


Making our own path

by Vinpap



Series: Path to a new beginning [2]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst and Humor, Bees Schnees, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Implied Love Interest, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Overcoming traumatic experiences, Post-Volume 3 (RWBY), Will be as compliant to canon as possible but it will not follow volume 4. Like... At all
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-08
Updated: 2017-10-19
Packaged: 2018-08-29 22:55:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 35,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8508754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vinpap/pseuds/Vinpap
Summary: After the Fall, everybody was affected, everybody had a story to tell. Weiss is at home, Blake is gone, Yang is depressed and has PTSD in Patch and Ruby... Ruby is off in the world with JN_R. But some people can't stand still and have to move forward. And when one piece get's in motion, all the other pieces begin to move with it





	1. Leaving the house

**Author's Note:**

> If you haven't read them already, I recommend you to read the "trailers" that I wrote in the first part of this series. Other than that... Hum... Any criticism and advice is welcome.

Weiss had opened her eyes immediately as she heard the sound of the alarm on her scroll, instantaneously waking up from her short night sleep. She woke up early, finished packing some clothes and some other objects and made sure that Myrtenaster was well oiled and was filled with dust. Even if she was only going to Vacuo for some economic problems and to do some negotiations with a possible dust competitor to the SDC, she had some things she also wanted to take care. She sighed, packed the last of her stuff and left the mansion with Penny and her five men escort in tow, heading to the airfield.

"Captain Crimson, we will take my jet, not the company's. I want to fly undetected, in case of any White Fang attack."

The captain, wearing the regular Atlas uniform with dark markings nodded and took out his scroll, sending a message to someone, probably to make sure that the changes will be known at H.Q. Weiss entered first, went to one of the back seat and sat down, closed her eyes and quickly went back to sleep. She wasn't fond of flying, especially the take off part, so if she was able to skip that entire part of the flight, she would take the opportunity anytime. She however made sure to keep a folded piece of paper, a picture, in her hands, not wanting to let it go, no matter the cost. She quickly dozed off, rapidly heading in the world of dreams. When she finally woke up, an hour and a half later, she took a moment to observe what was happening around her.  
Three soldiers, Carmen, the only women in her escort, Fawn, a large man that was as tall as Yatsuhashi on heels and Cerul, a man that was almost as small as Weiss, were playing a card game, another one, Coral, a tanned and laid back man, was cleaning their weapons and finally Crimson, the commanding officer, was talking on his scroll with someone, probably someone from Vacuo, maybe a police officer or even one of the investor that they were going to meet. In either case, it didn't really matter to Weiss. What mattered however, was the woman that was sitting at the front, near the pilot cabin. So Weiss stretched her arms slowly, yawned away the last bit of sleep and stood up. She made sure that she still had her picture in her hand, straightened her dress and walked slowly to the robotic girl at the font of the plane and sat down in front of her, still surprised, but at the same time happy to see her. They looked at each other, before Penny began to laugh softly, a smile creeping on her face.

"You must have a lot of question, haven't you Weiss my friend?" She said, giggling at the little nod Weiss gave her, unsure on how to answer. "When my body sustained fatal damage, my core went in survival mode, storing my aura in a secured container in my body, as well as uploading my memories and personality in the atlesian network, thus ensuring, technically, my survival if someone managed to get back my core. Which they did."

Weiss looked at Penny a long moment, lost in thought, unsure of the way that she should answer. She thought for a moment, thinking of more questions that she could come up with.

"Who... who found you? It must not have been an easy thing to do. The school and a lot of the areas surrounding the coliseum and the fair grounds was filled with grimms when I left." The heiress asked, impressed that someone actually managed to get in Vale, extract valuable equipment like Penny's... remain... and managed to get back to Atlas.

"It was Mister Onyx's squad. They are a group of specialists that are experts in quick and efficient long range missions in enemy territory. They are interesting persons, even if they don't talk much." The android answered, an innocent smile stuck in her face all the while she answered.

Weiss slowly nodded. So, she was retrieved by team OCHR (ochre), they were renowned hunters, or rather, specialists that were frequently send around the world, where Grimm activity was at its highest and most dangerous. In fact, it almost reminded the fame that team CFVY had at Beacon, except almost at an international level. She smiled and sighed, letting go of the breath she had kept during Penny's explanations. She smiled softly, but soon her smile disappear when the most important question that she had in mind was the next in her list of things she wanted to ask. She took a deep breath and looked at the ground, uncertain if she really wanted an answer.

"Penny" the heiress asked, low enough that any normal human would not have been able to hear it "What do you... remember before the moment of your... reactivation"

For a moment Penny looked surprised, but quickly sadness took over and, in an instant, Weiss felt guilty and almost asked Penny to forget what she said, but the android sighed as she looked out the window, not wanting to meet Weiss's eyes.

"I don't remember much. I know that I was friend with you, that I stopped a dust robbery that targeted the SDC at the Vale docks, and other details like those, but any memory that is not directly connected to Atlas or the military is a blur."

Tears were flowing on Weiss's face when Penny finally looked back at her and, in a fraction of a second, at a speed that would have made Ruby jealous, Weiss was besides Penny and hugging her, barely holding back her sobs, softly repeating "it's not fair". They stayed like this for a few moments, before Weiss went back to her seat. She smiled slightly and giggled as she realized just how out of character what she jut did was. She was never one to indulge in hugs or other demonstration of affection in public. It had slowly changed with her team, hugs here and there, telling each other secrets and things that worried each other from time to time, without making plans to use it against you later to gain political power over you, compliments far more frequently than she was used, but only in the confine of their dorm room. Maybe, just like her freedom, when you taste a little bit of friendship and human contact in your life, you just want more and more, even if you don't realize it at first.

A glimmer of mischief glowed in Weiss's eyes and she slowly crossed her arms, while Penny simply looked at her, unable to understand how she felt.

The heiress smiled and kept her eyes fixated on the robotic girl, as she began to speak. "Penny, could you please get in the SDC database and get me the report of the attack on the Vacuo outpost number 114 two weeks ago?"

Penny nodded, smiling, before frowning. She seemed to concentrate an instant, deep in thoughts. She closed her eyes as she began to fidget on her seat, terror spreading on her face. "Weiss, there's something wrong! I can't connect to the SDC network! I must have been -" she stopped when she saw the joy and excitement in Weiss's expression, a huge smile on her face.

"Can you turn off individual components of your system?"

"Weiss, I don't unders-"

"Can you or can you not manually disable your GPS chip?"

"I... I can, but Weiss, you have to tell me why!" Penny said, sounding more and mor alarmed, but also frightened by what was happening

Weiss laughed and clapped as tears began to flow freely once more from her eyes, happiness radiating from her as she revealed an heavily modified pistol hidden in the long sleeves of her traveling coat. Weiss was so happy that the contraption actually worked on Penny. After the fall of Beacon, she had asked SDC and Atlas scientists to develop something to disconnect the knights and paladins from the Atlas network, thus nullifying any hacking. However she needed Penny to disconnect her GPS chip to let her come in the next part of her plan.

"I promise, I'll explain everything, to you in an instant, but I need you to disable your GPS and grab something to hold you down in exactly... now"

Weiss quickly took five bags and threw one at each soldier, who, surprised grabbed them. Crimson however just sighed and put the bag on his back, waiting for what he knew was coming. And, as he guessed, Weiss nodded to him and he nodded back. It really was happening now

"I'm sorry Fawn, Carmen, Cerul, Coral and you, Captain Crimson, but... I have things I have to do and I can't have anybody prevent me from doing so." Said the heiress, looking both sad and happy, as she pressed a button on her scroll. And at the instant they saw her take out her scroll and say her little speech, they all knew what was going to happen. They put on the parachutes and braced for the moment that the doors would -

They didn't have the time to realize it had happen, they were almost instantly pulled our of the jet by the depressurization, with various other objects, while Weiss and Penny held tight to their own seats, not wanting to be flung out of the jet.

Okay, maybe it wasn't the best plan ever.


	2. Explanations and panic... Please don't panic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Weiss explains everything and Taiyang is worried about someone snooping around. What could possibly go wrong?

Floating in the sky had always been a weird but somewhat pleasant feeling for Crimson. Well, it was, when he wasn’t forcefully thrown out of a plane at over 6 km in the air, without any warning. Weiss had warned him that she didn’t want to go to Vacuo, but he never thought that she would do all this, just to be able to do what she wanted.

 “Hey captain?” said a neutral, somewhat bored voice

“Yes Coral?”

“What now?”

Crimson looked around at his subordinates and sighed. On his right, Fawn looked scared as he kept shooting glances at his parachute, his massive stature making him doubtful of the ability of his parachute to hold him correctly in the air. On his left, Carmen was as red as her name implied, anger and hatred oozing from her whole being, her hands shaking in fists as she desperately wanted to punch something, or someone, in the face. Behind him, Coral was floating slowly, looking as bored as always and was looking at him with complete disinterest. Finally, Cerul was a bit lower under all of them, hidden from their view by his parachute. Garnet Crimson just shrugged, before spotting something a few kilometers away on the ground.

“Well, there seems to be something that way, and it looks like an SDC mine. We should probably try to get there and see how things turn out after we brief HQ of what just happened.”

The rest of the descent was silent as the soldiers just kept thinking about what just happen to them, while the captain, however, just kept his gaze on the jet, quickly getting smaller in the sky.

“Well, miss Schnee” the officer thought “I hope you’ll achieve what you want to do, after all, we all deserve to do as we wish at least once in our life.”

* * *

 In the plane, the situation was completely different however. Penny was speechless, still trying to process what had just happened, Weiss was conflicted, happy that her plan had succeeded, but also sad that she had to go to such drastic measures to ensure that no one could interfere with her desires, especially not her father and his goons. But something else, or rather someone else was showing its excitement. A feminine voice was shouting from the speakers in an endless stream of hyperactivity that would have made Nora and Ruby look like sleeping sloths on morphine.

“Oh my god, that was awesome! You sounded like an action movie star going ‘Hasta la vista, baby’ on them or something like-“

Suddenly the only thing that could be heard through the speakers was muffled sound of a voice as well as some hits being given, before a male voice, smooth and calm, began to speak.

“That was impressive of you Schnee, but are you sure you made the right choice? Because that just made you a fug- OK NEON, STOP LICKING MY HAND!”

“Never!” Yelled the feminine voice back, before the sound of a fight was heard all around the plane. Weiss sighed but smiled at the way the two members of team FNKI that had accepted to help her were acting, reminding her of herself and Ruby in their first times together. However, her smile didn’t last long, she quickly regained her serious expression as she muted the speakers of the plane with her scroll. She took out her modified pistol and left it on the table next to her, before unfolding the picture she had. She took a moment to look at it, smiling softly and slowly placed it on her knees, taking the pistol back at the same time with her free hand and showing it to Penny.

“This pistol is designed to shoot a jammer in exoskeletons, which blocks any signal coming in and out of the robots, so they are forcefully disconnected from the SDC or Atlasian network, thus nullifying any sort of hacking of the main grid. Reminds you of anyone not able to connect to the network?” said the heiress as she smiled slightly but quickly frowned as she saw the look of confusion on the android. Weiss sighed and explained everything that she knew of what happened at beacon. How Torchwick managed to take control of one of their battleship and how a virus was broadcasted to every Knights and paladins, as well as everything else she knew.

Penny’s face only shown absolute terror. She knew of the events that happened in Vale, but nobody had told her just how bad everything was. But this wasn’t all… this didn’t explain what Weiss was doing or why she had to be disconnected from the network or why she had Flynt and Neon to fly her jet or…

 “Weiss… what are you doing? Or rather, why are you doing all of this?”

 Weiss looked down at her picture and she fumbled with it as she slowly showed it to Penny. Why? Why, was a question she kept asking herself everyday for the past months. She had a million reasons to do so. She wanted to see her friends, she wanted to flee from an hostile home, from her father, from Whitley, she wanted to be free, to be herself. She gulped slowly and handed the picture to Penny with fear, not wanting to lose one of her best memory.

 “Because I want, or rather, I need to be happy. I wasn’t allowed to be who I want, I was not allowed to make my own choices, I wasn’t allowed to live, so… so now I WANT to live with the only people that made me feel alive and happy. Penny, do you recognise any of the other girls on the picture?”

 Penny knew that she was supposed to recognise them, to know who they were. She also knew, deep down, that she was closer to the girl in red, than any other person in the world. But she couldn’t do it, she couldn’t even say the name of any of the girls, or any other information she may had. She looked quite sad as she gave back the picture to Weiss, slowly shaking her head from left to right. Weiss looked just as sad as the android, but she smiled softly as she took a deep breath.

 “Well Penny, since we have a few hours until we get to patch, let me tell you the story of team RWBY, the greatest team of Beacon, ever. Of all time”

 

* * *

 

A black bird cawed in the forest as the figure ran as fast as it could. Someone in town had told him that a woman had asked about… _her._ And nobody that wanted to find her, especially someone who didn’t know her well enough to know where she lived, was not someone he could let near her.

Taiyang punched through a fallen tree, breaking it away from is path, making animals run away from him, but he didn’t care. He jumped over a rock, taking his scroll out to try and het to talk to Yang as soon as possible, to warn her. He called and called, but she never answered, which only made the man worry more than ever.

He swore under his breath as he finally got to the clearing surrounding their house and he activated his two gauntlets, engaging his submachine gun and flamethrower, as he slowly moved towards the house. He quickly saw Yang through a window, yelling at someone he couldn’t see from his position, tears in her eyes. He began to run once more when he could see red eyes and flickering waves of energy in her hair.

“Yang no!” he yelled as he got to the front door, a blast of energy from his daughter, shattering glass, windows and other breakable objects inside the house.

He blasted the door open with a left punch, finally able to see inside the house. He saw Yang fall to her knees, crying from sadness and rage at the mysterious individual. Taiyang dashed to his daughter, surrounding her with his arms, softly rubbing her back as he looked at the intruder, a small girl wearing pink, white and brown clothes, her hairs pink and brown. His gaze stopped on her fully white eyes, filled with fear and sadness. When she saw that he was staring at her, she lowered her gaze and slowly presented a familiar gauntlet to him, one that he thought he would never see again. He took it with his free hand, sighing softly as his eyes travelled from the woman in front of him to his daughter.

“Thank you, who ever you are, but I think you should go.”

Nodding slowly, Neo backed away, heading out of the house while making sure not to step in shattered glass. She sat down on the porch, looking up at the sky. She only wanted to make someone happy, she only wanted to give something back to the strongest woman she knew, and after that, she only wanted to go with her to find Cinder and make her pay… as well as maybe kill the red pest that caused the death of her Roman. She wanted revenge, was it too much to ask? She got up as a white jet passed above her head, probably heading to the airport. She sighed and scribbled an address on a piece of paper that she left on the porch, under a rock, before heading back to the hotel she was staying for a few days. Maybe after she had calmed down, Yang or her father would like to know what this was all about.

* * *

 After almost two hours of listening to Weiss retelling her story, Penny kept silent, thinking about everything that she just learned. Making her forget things didn’t bother her. However, making her forget her friends, her relationships, was something she didn’t accept. She wanted, no, she HAD to have a talk with her father, as well as General Ironwood. She stood up and began to walk back and forth in the plane, lost in her thoughts. Weiss just looked at her, worried about the robotic girl.

“Hum… Weiss?”

Weiss and Penny both turned around and looked at Neon, fidgeting in place, looking uncomfortable and stressful. Weiss sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose.

“Yes Neon?”

“Do you happen to know how to… how to land a plane?”

“Of course I d… Wait…” Weiss slowly looked at Penny, before looking outside, seeing the ground getting closer and closer by the second. “WHAT?” Penny and Weiss yelled at the same time, horror in their faces as the stared at the Faunus.

“So… Is that a no?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to give a huge thanks to reddit user backtospawn who is really helpful in his comments about my work, without whom I don't know if it would be written the same way it is right now. 
> 
> If you have any advice for my writing, any review about the story or you want to say anything, just hit me up! Really, knowing that some people like what I do just makes my day!


	3. Crash landing and desert meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Somewhere in the desert, Blake's past is coming for her, while Team WNPF have some small problems to deal with

“What do you mean you mean you don’t know how to land a plane? I thought you said you knew how to fly!”

To say that Weiss was angry would be putting it lightly. Red from anger, she was in the cockpit with Neon, Penny and Flynt, trying to understand what they had to do. Well… Penny and Flynt were, Weiss was trying to strangle Neon in her fury. Before she was even asked to go to Vacuo, she was already planning an escape and she had asked for the help of team FNKI, which they happily agreed for various reasons, but this wasn’t the point. When Neon had told her that she knew how to fly a plane, Weiss was ecstatic, she had finally had found her escape route. But now, she regretted every choice she ever made in life, especially those involving Neon.

“Well, it’s true!” Neon said, trying to free herself from Weiss’ grip, managing to breath for a second before the heiress found her neck once more with her hands.

“No it’s not, you stupid cat, you just told me you can’t land the fucking plane!”

Penny chose that instant to clear her throat, looking at Weiss with a judging look. “Weiss, please don’t kill your friends.” she said, before looking back at the commands, alerts and other measures that the instruments on the dashboard were giving them. She sat down at Neon’s seat, before grabbing the headset and opened the radio to contact the Patch airfield.

“Patch airfield, this is private jet WRABB4E demanding authorization to do an emergency landing. Our pilot has passed out and nobody knows how to land the plane, we will need help to do so.”

Weiss just grabbed the headrest of both seats as she looked at the airstrip that was quickly getting bigger and bigger as they got closer, Penny and Flynt following the instructions that the control tower was giving them, while Neon was encased in an ice block, only her face free from the ice, simply looking defeated. Everybody (except Neon) jumped when the alarms began blaring their warnings. “Pull up. Reduce speed. Pull up. Reduce speed. Pull up”

“This” said Flynt, looking as calm as he could in this situation “is going to hurt. Really, really hurt.”

* * *

 

 

“Are you sure?”

“Yes ma’am, she looked exactly like her.”

“Thanks. Alright, you can go back to see your parents.”

The rabbit Faunus sighed as the blond kid quickly ran back to his family, somewhere in the refugee camp that they had built while they repaired the damage done by the white fang attack in the village. As if bandits and Grimms wasn’t enough, they had now a white fang cell operating in the kingdom. But most importantly, _she_ was apparently here. Velvet Scarlatina, member of team CFVY and the one that was made in charge of the security surrounding the camp by her leader Coco, sat down in her tent and rubbed her temples wondering about what they should be doing. Everyone that was part of the final battle at Beacon knew that Blake had fled as soon as she could. However, no one knew where she had disappeared. But now, as she was looking at the few things left behind in the white fang camp, especially by their leader, someone named Perry, she was learning important information. First, this was a small force and the main force was in Mistral, doing who knows what. They would have to try and warn Mistral as soon as possible. Secondly, she also learned that this wasn’t the first time that Blake had attacked White Fang troops, that she must have followed them around Remnant since the beginning, hunting them down slowly. At least, Velvet thought, it didn’t look like she killed anyone.

“So, Velvs, anything new?”

Velvet almost fell from her chair as Coco talked to her, not having heard her get to the tent. Damn sand, it prevents from hearing the sound of footsteps. She looked at her leader and girlfriend and blushed. Yes, it was hot, but…

“Do you really need to show so much skin?” said Velvet, just loudly enough for Coco to hear, which made Coco grinned, crossing her arms as she looked at the Faunus woman.

“What, don’t like the view?”

Wearing rather short brown shorts, a white crop top showing her midriff, shoulders, arms, and oh too much skin for Velvet’s brain, who was struggling to simply work, as it kept ogling at the woman’s body. Her beret and sunglasses were still in place and even after a week she still looked perfect, she still looked amazing, like a model, she was still so sexy, so…

“Velvet” Coco asked, snapping her fingers in the bunny’s face, a huge smile on her face. “Are you still there? You’re drooling.”

Blushing, Velvet hid her face in her hands, mumbling an apology as she tried to control the mental images that her brain was blasting her mind with, as she took deep breaths and slowly regained her calm. Clearing her throat, she looked up at Coco, who was still grinning at her.

“Well… they attacked the village, but the villagers held them back enough that help was able to come. A faunus woman with black hair, a white coat, thigh high boots, a chain-sickle-sword-pistol weapon and the ability to create doubles of herself. Reminds you of anyone?” She took a deep breath, trying to calm her heart as it was blasting in her chest, her mind filling with worry as she looked at Coco, the diva had lost her smile and was deep in her thoughts

“You think it’s Blake?”

“I asked the villagers and showed them various dark haired faunus woman pictures. All of them gave me the same answer, Blake is the one they saw. Coco… what should we do?”

The diva took out her scroll and sent a message to someone, her left foot tapping on the ground at the same time. She sat down next to Velvet, her arms crossed and her feet on the table. A few minutes later, Yatsuashi and Fox entered the tent, quickly heading to the seats in front of Velvet and Coco when they saw their leader’s gaze.

“First of all, Yatsu, Fox, you both owe me 50 lien, Blake’s a faunus. Secondly-“

“Wait” said velvet, surprise filled in her voice and face as she looked at Coco. ” Did you really bet on the fact that Blake could be a faunus?”

“Oh yeah. We made a bunch of bets at Beacon. Hell, Nora made a betting pool on when Pyrrha and Jaune, Yang and Blake, as well as Weiss and Ruby would finally get together. Fun fact? There was also on option for a team RWBY wide relationship. Didn’t get a lot of betting on it though, neither did all the other combinations, especially the Yang and Ruby one.”

Shaking her head in disbelief, Velvet sighed as she motioned to Coco to keep going. Beacon really was a weird school sometime. Coco smiled, grabbed the money that the two men were giving her and kept going as if nothing happened.

“It’s a tradition in Beacon, we even have some teachers and other staff members that bet. But let’s get back onto our main topic. Blake has been spotted in the area, so we have a new objective. Find her and try to talk to her. We need to understand why she fled. We may not be friend with her, but she’s a comrade and, to do what she did, she must have had a good reason.”

Everybody nodded, and headed out to their tents. They had to go as soon as possible if they wanted to have a chance at this. If Blake got too far away, they wouldn’t be able to find her. But she probably was still in the area, trying to find the remaining White Fang soldiers. Velvet entered her tent and zipped it back closed, as she began to undress to get in her fighting gear. But she quickly stopped when someone slowly unzipped the opening, revealing a grinning Coco, who entered, before zipping it back down once more.

“Hum… Coco, I want to change before we head out and…”

“Oh, I know Velvet, I know.”

“Coco, no.”

“Coco, yes” answered the diva, grinning as she pounced on the bunny girl, pushing her down on her sleeping bag.

 

 

* * *

 

“You really did an awful job you know?” said Neon, holding a pack of ice on her head with one hand, as she slowly rubbed her neck with her other hand.

After they had claimed that their pilot had passed out, they did the most logical thing that they could think and simply headbutted Neon’s head against the wall… a few times, enough to knock her out. Weiss had done it with pleasure, before bracing herself for impact, as they finally hit the ground. The front wheel had hit the ground first, ripping it off completely before the back wheels even touched the ground. They skid a long distance on the tarmac, engines blasting in reverse, as they desperately tried to stop their crash BEFORE they hit anything, especially the airport. Which they managed, with barely a dozen of meters between the plane and the building. When they finally got out, they were helped by emergency personnel, but Weiss quickly headed inside to talk with the director of the airport, demanding that no information about the crash leaked out of the deserted airport. She didn’t want her father to learn, somehow, where she was. When she guaranteed his silence, she went back to the plane, to be with Penny, Flynt and, begrudgingly, Neon. After that, they simply waited to see what would happen, waited for Neon to regain consciousness and for Weiss to tell them what would be their next objective.

And of course, first thing that Neon said when she woke up was that. Weiss really, really, really wanted to jump to her throat and strangle her, but Penny held her tight, sighing softly at the way they were both acting.

“I thought you knew how to fly!” yelled the heiress, her eyes fixed on Neon, trying to see if her death glare could, for once, kill someone.

“But it’s true! I know how to fly a plane! I just don’t know how to land!” answered the party girl, crossing her arms on her chest, sticking out her tongue to Weiss.

They all stayed silent for a moment before Weiss screamed in anger, using her glyphs to dash away from Penny and Flynt, pursuing the cat faunus that kept zipping away with her semblance, while the two other members of their group just sighed. Well, at least, nobody was seriously injured, that was the most important thing.

“Okay, Ice Princess, calm down, will you? You’re really hurting my ears right now.”

In an instant, everybody turned to the source of the voice, a man in his 40s, with black, white and grey clothes, black hair, red eyes and a red cape. Weiss stopped dead on her tracks and walked angrily to the man, starring at the man. When she got to him, she crossed her arm, eyes locked into his.

"What are you doing here?"

"I have family here, you're not the only one who can visit from time to time."

“Bring me to them!”

“Wow, you’re even more stuck up than your sister… Guessed she trained you well.”

“I won’t repeat myself!”

Qrow just laughed as he turned around, heading to the airport’s building, his hands in his pockets, Weiss right behind him. Looking at each other, Flynt, Neon and Penny just followed them, unsure of what had just happened. They walked slowly, Qrow leading them towards a counter in the back of the building, labelled “Delivery”. Groaning, the heiress stormed in front of him, daggers shooting from her eyes as she looked up at the man.

“You said you were going to lead me to Yang and Ruby!”

“I didn’t say anything. And anyway, I have something to take from a certain someone that had something made for her.”

“And what is it that you are getting?”

Smiling, Qrow just ignored her. He spent a few minutes at the desk, speaking with the clerk and filling some papers, before coming back, a long white box with the Atlas logo on it, under his arm

“You’ll see soon enough.” Answered Qrow, as he passed her, heading outside of the airport, towards the town, the group of teens behind him, looking at each other with confusion in their eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to give a huge thanks to reddit user backtospawn who is really helpful in his comments about my work, without whom I don't know if it would be written the same way it is right now.
> 
> If you have any advice for my writing, any review about the story or you want to say anything, just hit me up! Really, knowing that some people like what I do just makes my day!


	4. Care and Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blake explains herself and Yang is having the worst week ever. Of all time

Run and don’t look back. It was the only thing she could do. She had been found and her pursuers wanted to catch her, and she couldn’t let them. She had so much she still had to do, so that she could live with herself. She needed to hide, anywhere, she had to find somewhere to flee from her pursuers. After a few minutes of a crazy dash across sand dunes, she quickly made a left, heading directly to a large oasis with a dense canopy. She was an adept at hiding herself, she knew that they would probably never find her. Jumping up from tree to tree, branch to branch, before she stopped in one of the highest spot she could manage, standing still as one of her pursuer got in her field of view. Even through the dense roof of leaf, sun somehow managed to hit the golden barrels of the Gatling gun, making it shine, as a beacon. A beacon of death, thought Blake. Coco sighed slowly as the massive weapon got back in it’s handbag form, her gaze landing directly on the faunus, sadness filling her eyes.

“Why are you running Blake?”

“How did you-“

“Velvet was easily scared in our first year.”

“Go away Coco. And bring your team with you. I will fight you if I have to.”

Sighing, the diva looked around and slowly backed away from the tree, nodding as she looked back at Blake. The faunus woman tensed at the way the diva acted, sensing that something was aloof. The instant she heard the blade soar through the air she jumped, Yatsuhashi’s blade having destroyed the base of the tree. Dashing through the air, she tried to get as far as possible, aiming away from the diva and the mountain as she soared, but something collided with her, a blur of brown and fur tackled her to the ground, sobs being faintly heard against her chest.

Looking down, still dazed, Blake gulped loudly when she saw Velvet looking back at her, tears falling from her eyes, sadness but also anger, happiness and… something else, Blake couldn’t put her finger on it, filled in her expression. Sighing the cat faunus rested her head back on the ground, groaning as she saw the grin on Coco’s face. The stayed like this for a moment before Blake slowly smiled as she saw, for the first time in more than half a year, familiar faces.

“It’s nice to see you.” Said softly the cat faunus

“Same here.” Answered the diva, her grin slowly transforming in a smile, as Velvet slowly regained her composure.

“I still hate you for chasing me”

“You shouldn’t have fled, it was your fault” answered Yatsuhashi, sitting on their left, his eyes closed in a meditation stance

“God your logic is worst than Y-” the raven-haired woman said, before chocking at the end of her sentence, sadness filling her eyes as she was unable to keep talking, her eyes closing to fight back the tears that came every time that she thought of Yang, her mind always drifting back to _that_ day, the day she ruined _her_ life. She slowly patted the bunny girl’s back, sighing as memory just waved over her.

Suddenly, a blur of brown and orange got to the clearing, Fox panting softly as he got back in a fighting stance, prompting the other hunter and huntresses to their feet. Smiling, Coco looked at Blake from the corner of her eyes, as she readied her weapon, a dozen of beowolves getting into the clearing, snarling, followed by two alphas, observing them with care as they kept their distance. Taking out her weapon, Blake slowly rubbed her finger on the yellow streak on Gambol Shroud, resolve filling her eyes.

“We’ll talk about this later Blake, bet on that.”

“What, the same way you made bet on who would end up fucking who?”

“Yeah.” laughed Coco, a huge smile on her face “Just like that.”

Smiling slightly, Blake dashed towards the first beowolf, feeling more at ease than she thought she would. Maybe she needed to speak to someone after all.

* * *

“Where are you taking us?”

“Gods you’re loud”

“I will not repeat myself!”

“I know snow princess, I just hope you’ll shut your damn mouth, but if you’re anything like your sister, that’ll never happen.”

Sighing of exasperation and anger, Weiss’ hands grabbed her rapier, knuckles white from the pressure she was exerting on them, holding her hilt with all her might. She slowly began to remove Myrtenaster from her sheath, dust already set on the red canister, her finger ready to infuse the blade, before Penny softly rested her hand on the heiress’ shoulder, a scolding gaze set on her. Rolling her eyes Weiss tock deep breaths as she tried to calm herself, not noticing the red eyes looking at her. Qrow smiled as he looked over his shoulder, before sighing when he stopped in front of a florist, sadness filling his eyes. He entered slowly, under the questioning eyes of the four young adults. After a few minutes, he came out, still holding the box, but with a few white rose in his left hand.

“She probably won’t be home, neither will Tai. But I know where they most likely will be. And, where I have to go.” Qrow said gloomily, looking towards the forest.

They slowly followed him, Weiss having forgotten her rage towards the man the instant she saw his gaze. Whatever had happened, or was happening, it was something important and something difficult for the man. She just hoped that it wasn’t something that would be heartbreaking.

* * *

“Dad” groaned the blond woman, rolling her eyes from her father’s questioning. “I’m okay, I swear. Seeing her, plus Ember Celica just brought back harsh memories the other day. It’s nothing now.

“I know, but you don’t need to – “

“But I do!” screamed Yang, her hand reaching for the door of her room.

She quickly opened it, almost tearing it off its hinges, wearing unbuckled jeans, a black t-shirt and her father’s old vest in her robotic hand, her eyes a deep crimson as she angrily closed the distance between her and her father, stopping only a few centimeters from him, her eyes locked in his.

“If I don’t go, I could not live with myself, even if we aren’t even blood related. I haven’t spoken to her in more than a year. A year!! Wow, such a fucking wonderful daughter I am!” She yelled, before hugging her father, tears running down her face, not wanting to let him go. “Dad… I’ve lost everybody. First my biological mom, then my real mom, then you for a while, uncle Qrow always keeps disappearing and now, Ruby and Weiss have left me. And… Blake, she… “

Slowly Taiyang rubbed his eldest daughter’s back, hushing her softly as she kept crying in his arms, holding to his clothes with all her might, fearing that she would be again left alone. That if she let go of him, he would simply disappear. They stayed like this for a few minutes, before Yang finally calmed herself, moving away from her father, who simply smiled and kissed her forehead with care.

“It’s okay firecracker, don’t worry. I understand. I just wanted to make sure you were alright. Yang, you’re not in a perfect mental state right now and… I just…”

“I know. I was just mad at a lot of stuff. And well… you know… I’m not the best with my rage.”

They slowly smiled at each other, before Taiyang simply coughed, pointing his finger at Yang’s midsection, which caused her to look down, before shrieking in horror, quickly zipping and buttoning her pants, her face as crimson as her eyes a few moments prior. Erupting in laughter, Taiyang pressed himself against the wall, tears falling from his eyes, not even budging at his daughter’s jab on his shoulder. He followed her when she leaved, before finally composing himself as they slowly walked through the forest, getting closer and closer to their destination. They stopped at the end of the tree line, before nodding at each other, Taiyang slowly walking to the gravestone that rested at the edge of the cliff. Watching as her father got to the grave and sat down in front of it, Yang just hugged her midsection, feeling bile in her throat. It was always something she had a difficulty with, especially on this date. Talking with her mom, through a grave, wasn’t a pleasant experience. But from time to time, you had to do things that did not make you feel comfortable.

After almost ten minutes Taiyang stood up, leaving a sunflower on the grave, before walking back, tears in his eyes but a soft smile on his face. He hugged Yang and stood beside her, looking at her. She took a deep breath and started to walk towards the gravestone, her hands in her pockets clenched into fists, unease, but also fear and sadness oozing from her. When she arrived at the grave, she looked at it, before looking away at the horizon, the sun slowly setting and the sky getting red and purple tints as the sun disappeared.

“Hey mom. It’s been a while. Happy Birthday. Man, this feels so weird” she laughed dryly, sadness filled in her facial expression. “I’m sorry I didn’t come more often. It’s just so hard sometimes when I think about you. Especially when I spent my days with Ruby. She looks so much like you. Oh, yeah right, you might not understand. I got accepted to Beacon almost a year and a half ago. Man, time does fly quickly when there’s so much stuff happening. I got on a team with Ruby. She was the leader. And she was an awesome leader, even though she was childish and shy at first. She grew so much, especially mentally. She’s still the little baby of our friend group but all those responsibilities that came with being a leader, plus the ones she put on her shoulder, made her mature so much. You should have seen her during the tournament or during our missions. She was so happy to be where she was… I can’t begin to explain to you how it was. I was just so… proud of her, you know? I guess it’s the same way you would have felt if you had seen her.”

Yang slowly wiped away her tears, a smile plastered on her face as she recalled all those nights, all those days, everything that happened during their time at Beacon but her mood quickly grew somber as she recalled the events that preceded the attack.

“And me… well let’s say that I’m not as awesome as I thought. I broke some guy’s legs. Don’t get me wrong, I was awesome during the tournament. Even if I left my rage guide me in our second-round fight, I got sent in the finals. And I fought all out and I won, but… but it wasn’t a real fight. The guy lost on purpose, just so they could begin an evil scheme to bring down Vale. I was… I was used, played, I would have never won, I’m useless.” She took a moment to take a breath, to control her tears, before removing her hands from her pockets, and slowly removing her jacket, finally revealing her prosthetic to the whole world. “And even when the invasion of Beacon started, I wanted to save my best fr… my partner. And when I tried, I lost myself in rage again and I lost an arm. And when Ruby woke up, after she fought tooth and nails to win this fight, I was an awful sister, I was the worst. So she left. Weiss left. Blake left. And now I’m so scared of everything. I just don’t know… I just don’t know what to do. I have to try to feel better for dad, I have to move forward, to accept the reality of what happened. But as long as I keep dad stuck here… I keep him from going to help Ruby. I’m… I’m such a failure mom, I’m sorry. I’m sorry. So sorry to have failed that much… I’m not even there to help Ruby, when she needs me the most. I’m useless.”

She jumped in surprise when she heard a telltale sound that she had heard so much during Beacon, but she jumped even more when she felt something pressed against her back, cold but soft hands encircling her midsection as she heard sobs, feeling the tears against her back as she was hugged with unprecedented strength.

“Shut up you dolt… Shut up. Don’t you dare say that again.”

“W… Weiss? What are you?”

“Shut up I said. Just… Just let me have this…”

“Alright Ice queen. Alright… “

“It’s good to see you, you know?”

“It’s good to see you as well Weiss.”

The heiress softly hummed against her, pressing her head even more against the brawler’s collar bone, sobs filling the silent clearing as the sun kept setting over the horizon.

* * *

“What do you mean, you’re doing this out of love? Out of care?” Shrieked the diva, her hands hitting hard against the table in the tent, making Velvet and Fox flinch, the first one in fear, the second one in pain.

Groaning, Blake rolled her eyes at Coco, crossing her arms in front of her. After they had dealt with the beowolves, they had walked slowly back to the refugee camp, Velvet walking on the left of Blake, never letting her out of her sight, which made Blake both uneasy, sad but happy. They may not have talked much, but they had bonded somewhat during their time at Beacon. But this was just weird. After half an hour of walk, they finally got back to the camp, Blake being shown the shower room, which she gladly went in, taking her first shower in way too long. After a few minutes, she got out and found clothes that were left for her, a military uniform, while her own clothes were sent to be washed. Dressing back up, she got out, before rejoining with team CFVY in the command tent, all of them talking among themselves until she finally entered. When she did, they all got quiet, waiting for her to do something.

She sat down at the end of the table, looking at team CFVY with sadness in her eyes, before taking a deep breath, her eyes resting on a point on the back of the tent, not wanting to meet her former classmate’s eyes.

“You know what happened to Yang right?”

“Yeah… It was tragic, I heard about her arm loss a few days after the fight. Why?” answered the other faunus woman, worry in her eyes.

“Because…” trembling, Blake looked down, her eyes fixed on her intertwining fingers resting on the table “It’s all my fault… I tried to fight against… Against someone dangerous and when she tried to save me! She lost her arm, because _he_ wanted to destroy everything I love! And _he_ will not rest until he’s done killing everyone I love and care for!” she screamed as tears began to fall from her eyes, her fists clenched hard into fists. “I wanted to fight him, to end his sadistic streak and maybe, maybe try to make the White Fang back into the way it should have been! But I was a fool! I can’t beat him, nobody that I know can!”

Blake stood up, throwing the chair away as she began pacing back and forth in the tent, team CFVY remaining silent as they watched the distressed faunus, nobody knowing what to do. Sure, they all had their fair share of things to get over after the battle of Beacon, after every mission and after every challenge. But this, this was something else. Except Velvet, who was always blaming herself in the first year when something bad happened to her team, none of them had been as distraught as Blake was.

“So I ran. I ran away from Ruby, from Weiss, from everybody, but most importantly, I ran away from Yang, to protect her! I had to… I had to disappear, because I care about them, because I love… _her.”_

“What do you mean, you’re doing this out of love? Out of care?” Shrieked the diva, her hands hitting hard against the table in the tent, making Velvet and Fox flinch, the first one in fear, the second one in pain.

Blake groaned and rolled her eyes, before locking her gaze with Coco, anger burning in both of their eyes “I mean, that they are so important to me, that I prefer to disappear from their lives, rather than see them suffer!”

“Oh yeah, because hunting the fucking white fang during months was really the best idea! Shut up Belladonna, you’re not doing this out of love!”

Snarling, Blake jumped on Coco, each hitting each other with their fists, with Coco yelling coward and Blake crying while insulting her, the dam that she had built around her emotions finally breaking after almost eight months, finally accepting all the hate, anger, sadness, sorrow, but also the feeling of love, care, but also nostalgia of what she had at Beacon, of everything she had. Finally, she just broke, she stopped fighting and just stood up, heading out of the tent, before a hand rested on her shoulder. Turning around, she looked at Yatsuhashi, his stoic face not giving a hint off what he was thinking. He showed the chair she had thrown earlier, making her sigh.

“Please, Blake, listen to what I have to say. But first, sit down.”

The faunus slowly nodded, never looking back at Coco, out of anger, but also out of shame. Slowly she sat back at the table, looking shyly at the giant of a man that was Yatsuhashi.

“I trust you when you say that you did what you did because of care and love. However, if you were really trying to flee from the White Fang, you wouldn’t be fighting them. No, you would be hiding in a village anywhere. I believe that what you are doing, is you want to solve a problem by yourself, so you’ll be able to look back at your friends and tell them that they’re safe when you finally see them again. Am I wrong?”

She slowly shook her head, looking sheepishly at Fox and Velvet, before she looked directly at Coco, a lump in her throat.

“I’m – “

“Don’t worry. I just said that because you had to see what you were doing.” Answered the diva, smiling softly

“Blake” said Velvet, looking saddened at the cat faunus “Why… why didn’t you just told them? Or, if you truly love Yang as much as you say, why not say to her that you had to take your distance so she wouldn’t get hurt?”

“Because… You know Yang. Bleeding out and being hurt would not stop her from going after me. And frankly, I doubt that I would be able to go away if she asked me. I just – “

Suddenly, a man in the Vaccuan uniform entered the tent, panting softly as he got in a military salute, looking directly at Velvet. “Ma’am, I’m here to inform that team JACL is here and ready to take your place for the defense of the camp.”

Nodding, Velvet smiled, before standing up, following the man outside, to welcome the new team as well as inform them of what was needed to be done around the area. Blake sighed and stood up, before Coco sat her back down, a grin on her face.

“Hey, where do you think you’re going? You’re leaving with us.”

“But I – “

“No but. You have stuff to do back home, once you’re done, you’ll have the right to do as you please, but for now? I will drag you to Vale by the collar if I have to, understood?

Sighing, Blake nodded, a small smile on her lips as she looked at the yellow hints on her weapon, reminding her, everyday, what she was doing and why she was doing everything she was doing up until now.

“I don’t really have a choice, do I?”

“Nope.”

Well, of she didn’t have a choice… Might as well go with it. She didn’t want to fight Coco and her team just so she didn’t have to meet Yang. She had to go back to her partner at some point and explain it to her. But she also knew she would be hated by Yang, Weiss and Ruby. She had failed them. But she was ready. She was ready to tell them the truth and explain to them everything.

Now if only she knew how to say it without crying and making a fool of herself in front of her best friends, that would be great.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy crap. This is by far the longest thing I've written in a while and I'm so proud of it! It took me forever to get everything write and even longer just to find the time to write it, but it is done! Now... I'll have to find a moment to begin my work on chapter 5, but there's so much stuff going on at school, I just don't have the time for anything. 
> 
> Wish me luck! 
> 
> Oh, just a quick warning. Stuff going on in the same chapter don't mean that they are going on at the same exact moment. There's a few ellipse that will happen, in fact, everything where Weiss isn't is usually happening at a different time. If it's confusing, sorry, but I don't always have enough stuff to write, as of right now, for each scenes, to make them their own chapters
> 
> I have to give a huge thanks to reddit user backtospawn who is really helpful in his comments about my work, without whom I don't know if it would be written the same way it is right now.
> 
> If you have any advice for my writing, any review about the story or you want to say anything, just hit me up! Really, knowing that some people like what I do just makes my day!


	5. Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Xiao Long-Branwen take a moment to speak with team WNPF (yeah, got bored of writing their names separately at some point)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God, is this really heading the way I think it is?

“So… you going to let me go at some point or what?”

A simple hum answered a question as Weiss slowly backed away from the blond brawler, who turned around, smiled with tears in her eyes, before hugging her with the biggest, strongest, bearest bear hug she could manage, making Weiss groan in pain, but still nuzzled against the taller woman, a smile on their face, even with sadness in their eyes and expression. They stood still for a second, before someone coughed, making them turn their head, looking at Taiyang, Qrow and the rest of Weiss’ crew. Everybody was smiling, even if Tai was glaring menacingly at Qrow. Sighing, the swordsman just shrugged, before walking towards the grave, putting his hand on Yang’s shoulder with a soft smile.

“You have some talking to do. If I were you, I’d go elsewhere. It’s not really the place, isn’t it?”

“Yeah… You’re right. Sorry Qrow.”

“Heh, it’s nothing. Don’t worry about it. Just go before I kick your butt”

They smiled, before they all separated, Weiss and Yang walking back towards the group at the edge of the forest, who was smiling softly at them. When they reached them, Yang slowly presented Weiss, Neon and Flynt to her father, making him smile even more.

“Well, if you’re her friends and, since you” he said, looking at Weiss, who froze when his gaze landed on her “are Ruby’s partner and Yang’s teammate, you are more than welcome to come to my home. But you, however…” Taiyang’s gaze slowly landed on Penny, who smiled at him while waving her hand at him. “I’d like to know, who are you?”

Slowly Weiss and Penny looked at each other, uncertain on how to answer. Did they really want to tell the truth? Especially in this situation, with Yang in such a fragile mental state? Weiss shook her head slowly and Penny nodded in agreement. Weiss sighed and put her hand on the robot girl’s shoulder, with a sad smile.

“I can say that she’s a friend. However, now is not the time, I’m sorry. But… Soon we’ll explain everything.”

Intrigued, the Xiao Long looked at each other, but let it pass none the less. Yang knew that if Weiss made a promise, she would keep it. So, they nodded, deciding not to ask more question and motioned the newcomers to follow them as they walked to their home, further in land. As Weiss and Yang were busy talking, Taiyang leading and Penny walking silently, lost in her thoughts, Neon poked (rather harshly) Flynt’s ribcage, trying to get his attention. He groaned and rolled his eyes and kept walking, ignoring her. Was it really that difficult for the girl to have a normal level of human decency and simply ask to talk to him, or…

“What Neon?” yelled the musician, exasperated at the poking onslaught of the last two minutes. In front of him, the rest of the group was looking at him, eyebrows lifted as they kept their eyes looked on the two of them. “Sorry. She made me lose my cool. Again.” He sighed waving off. They shrugged and Weiss very clearly rolled her eyes, but soon they resumed walking, while Neon was simply smiling at him. “What do you want?”

“I was wondering something…”

“Yes Neon?”

“After I told her to go on a diet, did Yang thing that losing a limb would do the same thing? Does she know that's not what I meant?”

“What. The. Fuck. Did that bitch say?”

Suddenly a wave of energy and fire engulphed the area, Yang’s gaze firmly set on Neon, her eyes red with rage. But, as if an angry Yang wasn’t enough, Weiss was slowly unsheathing her rapier, making the revolver cylinder rotate until it landed on the red dust, with a murderous intent filled gaze set on the party cat as well. Said party cat slowly walked backwards, laughing dryly as she looked at Flynt, who was currently in the process of the biggest facepalm ever. Of all time.

“I said that louder than I thought, right?” she asked, worry filled in her voice

“Yes Neon, yes you did.”

“So… I should run?”

“Oh, yeah you should kitty cat.” Said Yang, a mad grin on her face as she cracked the knuckles of her left hand.

“And you better get started quickly, because believe me, we won’t go easy on you.” Continued Weiss, with a stoic face but with anger filled in her eyes.

Quickly the forest was filled with shrieks of terror, sound of explosions and the smell of fire, lightning and ice, all combining to make the perfect mix of a new perfume that Flynt decided to name “Karma is a bitch”. With a smile, Taiyang simply asked the two other young adults to follow him to his house, claiming that Yang wouldn’t be too long away from home.

It was good to have some life back at home, stuff like this didn’t happen for far too long.

* * *

 

“Are you going to finally explain why, how, and when you came here?”

Weiss looked at the brawler and rolled her eyes, sighing. They were all sitting in the living room of the house, Penny, Flynt and Neon sitting on the couch, Yang on the recliner, while Qrow and Taiyang just leaned against the wall. Weiss however was snuggling with Zwei on the ground, making little sounds of pleasure as he was getting belly rubs. Everybody kept silent, looking at the heiress, deep in thought, until she finally took a deep breath and locked eyes with the blond brawler. Alright, she thought, let’s do this.

 “If I do, promise me to answer my questions as well.”

“Weiss, since when do I not answer questions?”

“Well, there was that time with the third year g…”

“Okay, carry on!” almost yelled Yang as she blushed.

 She kept looking away from her father, who was frowning as he stared at his daughter, the fire in the fire place growing stronger, while Qrow was simply too busy laughing his ass off as he looked at his niece and her apparent unease. Proud of herself, Weiss smiled before she cleared her throat, making everybody look back at her. She slowly told how it had been back home, she told them about the interdiction of training, everything her father had said, what he had ordered of her, every time she was used to help alleviate public tension, how she had to sing at so many charity concert, only to please the rich and powerful of Atlas, and most of all, keep a perfect facade in front of everybody, for her father’s sake. However, she never saw Yang’s eyes getting redder and redder, Qrow clenching his jaw or penny’s hands tightening on her knees, she never saw Neon and Flynt looking at each other sadly and she definitely never saw the flames in the fireplace bursting up in the chimney as Taiyang fought to keep his calm, the heiress just kept looking at the ground.

 “So, three days ago, I was asked by my father to head to Vacuo with…” slowly, Weiss and Penny locked eyes, before the robotic girl nodded slowly. ” Yang… when you look at her” she motioned towards Penny, making everyone look at the fidgeting android who would have been blushing if she could “what do you see?”

“Wh… what?”

“Just answer me Yang.”

“Alright, alright. Well, I see copper hairs, green eyes, a suit that, frankly, I’ve only seen people wear at funerals in tv shows. I see… naivete in your eyes, a little bit like Ruby, but also fear. I see also a stoic face, which is weird, because you have difficulty handling your other physical reactions. Also…”

“God damn it Yang, sometime I really believe that your hair says the truth about your brain power.” slurred Qrow, as he took a large sip from his flask, a grin on his face as he saw the look of betrayal on his niece’s face. “Even me, drunk as I am, can see that it’s the robot girl from the tournament.”

 Yang’s face quickly shifted from anger to horror, fear, sadness, incomprehension and a million of other emotions, her brain going on a frenzy as it struggled to understand what had been said, staring at Penny who simply had a shy smile and waved slowly.

 

“Salutation miss Xiao Long, I’m Penny Polendina, but as I’ve been told, we’re supposed to know each other. Sadly, I have no recollection of you or any members of your team.”

“Speaking of which…” Weiss stood up and stared at Yang, her arms crossed in front of her, standing in front of Yang, who raised an eyebrow at her. “Where’s Ruby? Where’s the dolt?”

Suddenly, it was silent again, Yang, Taiyang and Qrow all looking away, with Qrow standing up to go gaze outside, shutting himself out from everything, everyone, which only made Weiss panic more as she looked back at Yang, with tears in her eyes.

“Y… Yang?”

“She left.” Answered Qrow, as he took out his flask, only to look at it and put it back against the window, before turning back. “She left with the rest of JNPR? Is that it? I can’t remember what it was. The team with Pyrrha in it.”

 Mouth agape, Weiss could feel tears running down her cheeks as she turned back to Yang, fists clenched tight with suppressed anger from her own failure as a big sister.

 “And… And what about B…”

“I don’t want to talk about it!” answered Yang, her eyes red in an instant as she stood up, only to head outside, slamming the door behind her, leaving the house in complete silence, if not for Weiss’s soft sobs as she kept her gaze on the closed door. She couldn’t tell how much time had passed, before she felt a hand on her shoulder, slowly tugging her to turn around. Stiffening when she saw Taiyang so close to her, she slowly eased up when he motioned her to the kitchen. She shyly smiled at him before following him instinctively.

Her team was torn apart, but if she had anything to say, it wasn’t going to stay that way for long.

* * *

  “I’m sorry, but I need to go, a few friends of mine are heading on a mission and they’ve asked me to take on a bit of their work at Signal, I won’t be gone for long.”

 Taiyang was standing on the porch, a few minutes after they all had a meal, spent talking to each other, telling stories of their past, of their missions or simply of their home. Yang however was not with them, still gone, but that didn’t worry her father one bit. The island was pretty well secured, with only a few grimms from time to time. She is a big girl, he said, but that didn’t prevent Weiss from worrying. Weiss and Qrow were on the porch with him, Qrow sipping from a glass of scotch while Weiss was only being outside to see if Yang had returned. When she saw that she wasn’t there, she simply sighed, before heading back inside, towards the room she was supposed to share with the blond brawler for the time they were supposed to stay here.

 “So, who’s leaving?” asked Qrow as Weiss was leaving.

“Oh, it’s team JACL (jackal). They finished their tour so they are taking missions again for a few months while they write new songs.”

“Oh? I thought that Jeff said he and Casey were done with missions and were going to concentrate on music.”

“Yeah…” Taiyang simply shrugged before sighing. “Let’s say that the Fall of Beacon changed a lot of things. For a lot of people.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

They stood in silence, before Taiyang just turned around, waving at Qrow while he still headed towards the main town, towards Signal. But what he didn’t tell anyone, was what he had in mind after having been to Beacon. He slowly pulled a piece of paper, where an address was written down. At this time of the day, he was ready to bet that the girl from the other day, the one that had made Yang snap, would be there. And he really wanted answers.

Even if he had to take them by force.

For his part, Qrow simply gave a hand around the house, making sure that everybody was settled for the night. It would have made Summer proud, seeing that he had decided to take his responsibilities in hand, but... it would also make his sister and Taiyang laugh their ass off, thus he made sure to guarantee that the four young adults that were still at home didn't say a thing to the owner of the house. Or else he wouldn't here the end of it. He slowly walked through the house's upper floor's hallway, stopping in the bedroom that Weiss was in, sitting on the bed and looking outside, her gaze empty of any emotions, lost in her thought. The drunken hunter sighed, before walking in and knocking softly, making the heiress jump a smile on her face, before a frown was quickly replaced on her lips.

"What do you want?"

"Ouch, just as cold as your sister."

"Stop comparing me to her!" almost yelled Weiss, snarling as she saw the smirk on the man's lips

"Alright, alright. You're moody. Wanna talk about it?"

"No. Not with you."

 Qrow sighed, before looking outside, towards the distant glow of the city. Running a hand through his hair, he groaned when he made a decision.

 "I guess you're angry at her for leaving?" waiting a few moment to see if she had anything to say. When she said nothing, he simply sighed again, before continuing. "I know you don't like me, and I've made a lot of things for you to do so, but... Just listen to me. Maybe you'll understand why she was angry. " Weiss slowly turned her head, looking at the man who smiled slowly at her. "So, after she met up with you..." 

* * *

Four hours had passed and everybody, except Qrow, had gone to bed, the toll of the day having been massive for the group. Flynt and Neon shared the bedroom that Ruby and Yang used to sleep in, Penny didn’t need sleep but none the less went in power saving mode on the couch, while Weiss was laying on the bed in Yang’s new bedroom, who previously was a guest room, waiting for the return of her friend and (ex) teammate. When midnight rang, the heiress sighed, before rolling around in bed, trying the best she could to get some sleep. After a few minutes, she jumped up when she finally heard someone walking towards the bedroom she was in. Standing still but her hand ready to grab her rapier, she tensed even more when she heard the foot steps stop in front of the bedroom. Slowly the door opened, someone walking slowly towards the bed. Suddenly Weiss was hit by the smell of alcohol and she rolled around in bed, her eyes resting on Yang, with an angry look in the ice blue eyes.

 “Wh… what… where were…”

“Shhhhhh” Yang said, resting a finger on Weiss’ lips, making her blush at the pressure again her lips. “Sorry… I kinda needed some time to think.”

“Yeah, so you decided to drink?”

“Nah, I drank when I was coming back. I actually went to see a friend of mine.”

“Oh? Who is he?”

“He?” inelegantly, Yang snorted before dissolving in laughter, in front of a dumb struck Weiss “It’s a girl and she’s… six? Or maybe seven? I can’t remember.”

“You… Befriended a seven-year-old?” sighing, Weiss rolled her eyes before setting them back on Yang with a grin “Well, I guess you probably have about the same IQ.”

 Yang stared at the heiress, before pouting, grabbing the covers of the bed and throwing them away, leaving the heiress shivering in her sleepwear, glaring back at her. Laughing, Yang grabbed the heiress by the hand, before lifting her up to hug her softly, a smile on her lips.

 “Sorry I forgot about it and it's a bit late for that, but… Happy birthday Weiss. I completely forgot to buy you something.”

“Oh, shut up you big oaf, you wouldn’t have bought me anything.”

“… True.”

 The looked at each other, before both dissolving in a fit of laughter and giggle, pain and sadness seemingly lifted from their shoulder as they shared, for the first time in almost a year, a pleasant moment with someone from their team, from their new family, or rather, their old family now

 “But even if I would have bought you nothing, you’d still love me.” Yang slurred, before pushing Weiss back on the bed, a grin sprayed across your face.

“God you’re a barbarian.” The heiress said while she rolled her eyes with a smile. “It’s not because I’m in your bed that I feel that way. I care about you, I care about my team, I love you, Ruby, Bl…”

“Don’t. Say. That. Name.” said Yang, her smile having quickly disappeared, replaced by a red glare that made Weiss gulp loudly. They stood still for a few minutes, before Yang sighed and sat on the bed, her shoulders dropping as she sighed. “It’s not against you Weiss, it’s just… I feel so betrayed… So, rejected. I don’t know, I can’t stop the anger towards her, but I also can’t stop all the other emotions. And I feel so… helpless when I’m reminded of her.”

“Hey…” said the heiress softly, almost not loud enough for Yang to hear, until she hugged the brawler from the back, her chin resting on Yang’s left shoulder. “I’m pretty sure that she left for a good reason. Your… Your uncle gave me a run down of what you told him about the attack.”

“Hmmm…”

“Let’s… Let’s just get some sleep and we’ll see about the rest tomorrow or another day. Alright?”

“Sure… Why not?”

 Yang left the room shortly after that, only to come back in her own sleepwear. She stopped near the bed and slowly, looked down, not meeting Weiss’ gaze. Uneasy, she began to toy with her hair, trying to decide what she had to say, but most importantly, how she could say it.

 “Could… you turn around? Please?”

 Nodding and blushing, Weiss slowly rolled, looking out the window and the beautiful starry sky. She heard a thud when something metallic and heavy was left on the bedside table and she quickly felt every muscle in her body stiffen as she understood what happened. Still, she decided to keep her mouth shut, not wanting to make it even more difficult. The lights in the room then turned off as Yang closed the few lights with a switch, before heading finally to bed, sliding in it next to Weiss, without a word. The two young women stayed silent for almost twenty minutes, back to back, waiting to see if the other one would drift first to sleep, before Yang rolled around and grabbed Weiss’ midsection with her arm, making the heiress yelp in surprise as she was suddenly the little spoon to Yang.

 “Hum… Yang?”

“Just… Thank you. For coming. Even if you thought that you would be able to see everybody… It means a lot to me.”

“Yang… Team RWBY means everything to me. We are family.”

“Yeah… I get it. You’re quite important in my life too. I care about our team. Well… What we had.”

“We’ll have it again one day Yang, one day. I promise”

“Let’s hope.”

“Hey Yang?”

“Yeah?”

“Just so you know… I really care about you, Ruby and… Blake.”

 She felt Yang tense and she stayed silent while the brawler fought with her fight or flight instinct. After a few minutes, Yang simply rested her head against Weiss’ collarbone with a sigh.

 “Yeah, me too.”

 Slowly they drifted towards sleep, one last thought flashing in their minds just before the fell asleep, making one of them smile, the other own frown.

  _If only you could understand how much you three mean to me._

_If only you could understand how much she means to me._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, it really went that way. Huh. Why not?
> 
> So... Apparently, my mind decided to add a little bit of pollination in the mix and... I don't know if I'm happy with it or not, it's just so weird! I'm usually super happy with pollination stuff, but now, I'm not sure if I like it. 
> 
> However, it still makes sense with the way I wrote Weiss up to this point, so... Maybe it's a good thing? Sincerely, I am quite lost right now wit my brain. I can't wait to see where he'll drag me next.
> 
> I have to give a huge thanks to reddit user backtospawn who is really helpful in his comments about my work, without whom I don't know if it would be written the same way it is right now.
> 
> If you have any advice for my writing, any review about the story or you want to say anything, just hit me up! Really, knowing that some people like what I do just makes my day!


	6. The gears are set in motion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taiyang isn't happy and Yang gets the talk by Weiss

There was only a few people walking in the dark of the night, everybody cooped up and happy with their lives, carefree and without worry, spared from the atrocity of war or constant struggle. This only made Taiyang smile more. He knew he had one of the most dangerous job in the world, even more than any soldier, any general or anyone from Atlas. He wasn’t backed by an army of mindless drones, he wasn’t rich as a Schnee, able to hire some huntsmen to come with him or to have the luxury to still have his team. No, he was alone, he was a hunter and he would die before he could leave someone be threatened. And now, his daughter was sought out by someone, someone who had brought pain and sadness to his little dragon. Someone that broke down what she had manage to slowly build back up in the course of a few months. He scowled when he thought back to what happened that day and he groaned when he began to think. What could he hope to do? What could he hope to learn? Nothing. He couldn’t do anything, except understand what was going on.

From what Qrow had told him, Ruby and Yang had been involved in something, something huge, and they had a target painted on their backs. He did try to protect his eldest daughter, but… he couldn’t do anything for Ruby, while she was on the other side of Remnant, away from him and any form of backup. Qrow did promise to head back there the next day, but that still wasn’t enough for the blond brawler. He wanted his daughter back home, with a way to help her. Still, he understood why she was doing this. She was the carbon copy of Summer, and Summer would have never backed down from a life-threatening situation as that one, not when it could endanger anybody and she had the opportunity to do anything about it.

Taiyang smiled and sighed, looking up at the building he was now standing in front of. The hotel was one of the few on the island and it was the address he was given by the mysterious girl. He looed around, making sure that nobody was making an ambush and he went in, headed straight to the desk and smiled at the young clerk. The long mahogany desk was slightly lit by a few lights around and over it, a few pamphlets of touristic traps around the island were left on display, as well as an information pamphlet about the dangerous areas of the island, to avoid any accidents as best as possible. The blond clerk smiled at the huntsmen and quickly straightened her uniform, before resting her hands together in front of her.

"Hello professor, how may I help you? "

"Hello Sandy, I didn’t know you also worked at this hotel. You need to pay for your studying at Signal? "

"Sadly, yes, but only because I don’t want my parents to pay everything for me. I feel bad that they have to deprive themselves of some things they like, only to offer me the opportunity to become a huntress "

"Well, it’s really kind of you. I’ sure your parents are proud of you, no matter what. On another note… I need answers Sandy, but I don’t know if you’ll be able to help me. "

"Oh? What is it sir? "

"I’m looking for someone. Ice cream colored girl, she’s about… I dunno… less than 5 feet tall and we believe she’s mute. Does it ring a bell? "

Sandy looked around, clearing her throat as she blushed slightly, uneasy at the question. "Sir, I’m not supposed to - "

"I understand Sandy, but she got into my home, caused trouble on my property and created problems for Yang. I can’t let this slide, I need answers. "

Sandy gulped loudly as she saw the fire in the fireplace grow bigger as Taiyang explained what was going on, she nodded slowly and slowly hid behind the counter, looking for the back up key that they stored there, just in case an accident happened. When she got back up, she handed him the key card. "Room 106, as far as I know, she hasn’t left the building tonight. But… Sir? Please, refrain from causing damage, please. "

"Come on Sandy " he said, smiling kindly, the fire behind him going back to a normal size "Since when do I cause trouble or damage? "

"All the time sir. The headmaster keeps yelling at you after every combat class. "

Taiyang laughed, and waved at the girl, heading to the elevators in silence, thinking about what he was going to do. He wanted answers at his questions, but he also wanted to protect his family. By jumping right in the mouth of the wolf, was he doing something good, or something bad? Was he causing more problem? Or was he helping? He took a deep breath and rode the elevator up to the next floor, arms crossed. He slowly walked up to the door, took a deep breath and knocked. He waited for a few moments, before the door was opened forcefully, the young woman appearing in front of him with a smile, that was quickly replaced by a pout.

"What, not expecting me? Sorry sweetie, but it’ll be the best you’ll get for now. We HAVE to talk, don’t you think? "

She nodded slowly and he smiled when she let him get inside, looking around the hallway to make sure nobody was with him, and she locked it behind herself. She turned around and followed him and sat on the bed, while he sat on the desk, smiling at her.

"So… anything to say for yourself? "

She sighed louder, took out her scroll and began to tap on it, before showing it back to the huntsman

_It’s a long story_

"Not a problem. I have all night for your story. I need answers, and you’ll tell me everything and after that, I’ll see what I should do with you. Deal? "

_Yes. Now… You need to know, I don’t know everything, but I can begin with the first time I met your daughter and I’ll explain as much as I can, starting from there._

"Good, I’m listening… Or reading. I don’t know really. "

* * *

 

When Weiss woke up, she couldn’t see anything, other than darkness. She could however feel a lot of things. For starter, a hand on her back, a strong arm around her. She could also feel hotness against her face, she could feel softness against it while it also felt solid, like a muscle. Lastly, she could feel a frequent sensation of movement. Suddenly the heiress froze and stiffened, took a deep breath and blushed madly as she recognized the smell. And she also recognized the feeling of Yang laughing against her. Slowly, Weiss disengaged, backing away from Yang and her cleavage, blushing as red as Ruby’s hood, getting face to face with a grinning Yang.

"So… "

"Say something and I swear to any god, that I’ll cut you tongue off. "’

They stayed silent for a few seconds, glaring at each other, before Yang cracked.

"So you WERE enjoying the goods! "

"YANG XIAO LONG, I’M GOING TO END YOU! "

Laughing, the blond woman jumped off her bed, before freezing, realising something was missing. Something really important. She quickly moved to the bedside table and grabbed her robotic arm, before a soft hand grabbed her by the wrist. Yang gulped hard, before turning her head towards Weiss, worry filled in her face. Slowly adding pressure on the wrist, Weiss forced Yang to release the arm, before patting the bed, on her left. Sighing, Yang sat down, looking away, fist clenched while Weiss softly rubbed the damaged arm, from the shoulder, slowly making her way to the stump.

"Calm down, everything’s okay, I swear. " Weiss said softly when Yang tensed. "Yang… this is you, and, frankly, even like this, you are still beautiful. You are still amazing. So please, don’t feel ashamed. At least not to me, not to your friends, your teammates. I’ll help you to get over all of this, but only if you are ready to do the same for yourself. "

"Man, stop talking like my dad, you’re not supposed to be like him "

"Well, that means that he cares a lot about you. "

Yang smiled softly, before nodding. They stood like this for a few minutes, in silence, before a knock was heard at the door. They looked at each other, before Yang took her mechanical arm, putting it back on while Weiss went to the door. When she opened it, she frowned as she looked at Qrow.

"What? "

"Damn, still cold to me? Even after yesterday? "

"Just tell her what you want Qrow" Yang said from inside, rolling her eyes with a smile.

"I’m just here to show you something before I head out back to Mistral, Yang, so… when you’re ready, just come see me in the garage, alright? "

With that, Qrow just turned around, a cryptic smile plastered on his face. The two young women looked at each other, before changing into more adequate clothing. When they left Yang was in a pair of black jeans and a yellow and white t-shirt, still wearing her father’s old vest, to the sadness of Weiss. On her part, Weiss was in a white summer dress, with a red and black shawl over her shoulders, which made Yang laugh. After all, was she fleeing from home, or was she going to prepare for balls or events that needed such clothing. They bickered for the few moments that it took them to get to the garage, Weiss quickly pointing out that she WAS indeed supposed to go somewhere where such events would have occurred. Weiss however stopped talking when they got in front of the door to the garage, taking a deep breath to prepare mentally to spend a long amount of time with Qrow.

"But you decided to come here… are the goods really that much to your liking? " asked Yang, with a shit eating grin on her face.

"You know what Yang? " asked the heiress in a sigh, before her eyes locked with Yang’s, an angelic smile appearing on her face as she pushed Yang against the wall, her hands roaming on the blond brawler’s sides, moving up and down slowly. "Maybe they did really interest me. Maybe I’ll have to take advantage of our sleeping arrangements to spend more time with them… don’t you think?"

"Okay, this is too flirty, who are you and what have you done to Weiss?" asked Yang, blushing as she looked away from the heiress, who simply grinned before going inside the garage, a red-faced Yang in tow.

"W… What… In fact, do I want to know what happened to have Yang blushing like a high school girl?

"Nope! " quickly answered Yang, her blush reddening even more when Qrow raised an eyebrow. ‘’Why did you want me Qrow? "

"Well…" began Qrow, clearing his throat, deciding that he was too sober for this. "As we know, you have a robotic arm…"

"No shit, Sherlock"

"BUT, having something, doesn’t mean you own it, which is why… I’ve decided to buy you this. " He said, revealing a maintenance bench, accompanied by a few can of paint. Slowly, Yang walked to it all, observing everything that was on display. She softly ran her finger through the few upgrades and spare parts, as well as the painting equipment that was left around the bench. She smiled, tears in her eyes, when she turned around, grabbing her uncle for a hug, a soft sob being heard in the garage while Yang just stood still for a few moments in her uncle’s arms. Weiss simply smiled at Qrow who had a smug grin as he stared at the heiress.

"So, am I still a jackass? "

"Yes. Yes, you are. "

"Damn! "

"Well, Qrow, at least, you’re not a Jacque-ass" mumbled Yang, before moving away from the hug.

"Did... did you do a pun using my father’s name? "

"Hum… Maybe? "

"I like it. " Answered the heiress, a grin appearing on her

"Oh, thank god, I was scared shitless that you were angry. "Sighed Yang in relief, a smile plastering her face, before they both dissolved in a laughing spree, unable to contain the emotions that they were feeling, the relief that they felt after their talk yesterday and this morning.

When they finally regained their cool, Weiss excused herself from the garage, leaving Qrow to show to Yang how the maintenance on the arm was made. Closing the door, she slowly walked to the dining-room, where a pair of smiling Neon and Flynt were looking at her. She raised an eyebrow, before completely ignoring them, heading to one of the cupboards and taking out a bowl. She left if on a counter, before turning around to get cereals, but she stopped moving when she saw Flynt and Neon still looking at her and still smiling. She groaned and rolled her eyes, before crossing her arms with a glare.

"What is it? "she asked dryly, a scowl on her face.

"So… What was that? " asked Flynt, with a glimmer of mischief in his eyes.

"What do you… "

"DID YOU FUCK? " asked Neon, slamming her hands on the table, a huge grin on her face, making Flynt and Weiss blush and groan.

"What the heck are you…"

"We saw what happened with Yang, so we began to wonder what was going on between you two" softly said Penny, coming in from the living-room with a little smile, resting her body on the doorframe, her hands behind her back.

Groaning Weiss slammed her head against the refrigerator’s door, making Penny and Flynt chuckle, while Neon slammed her hands again, almost shouting once again.

"BUT YOU DIDN’T ANSWER WEISS, DID YOU F…"

The plate of toast that Neon suddenly crashed with her face, a black glyph quickly disappearing from the place it rested a few seconds earlier. Weiss smiled calmly, before sitting at the table, a bowl of cereal in hand.

"You asked for this Neon, you know that, do you? "

"Yeah yeah, shut it. " said the party girl, slowly removing the peanut butter that was stuck on her face with her finger.

Everybody stayed silent for a moment, before Weiss sighed and looked up at Neon and Flynt. She then turned her head to look towards the garage, then Penny, motioning her to sit beside her. When they were all sat at the table, Weiss played slowly with the milk in her bowl, looking at it intensely. She took a deep breath, before looking back at her friends.

"I’m in love with Yang, I won’t deny it. So yes, what you saw was me letting my emotions taking control of me. However… I’m not only in love with her. I love Yang, but I also love Blake and Ruby, each for their various reasons. I love Yang for her drive and determination, for her strength and for everything she does for us. I love Ruby for her energy and innocence, for her happiness that she brings to everybody, for her naivete that push everybody around her to become better, if only to protect that simple soul. And I love Blake for her honesty, well at least, when she’s not hiding who she is out of shame or fear. I love her for her sanity, the way she always tries to stay focused on what’s important, while also being childish and falling back into a slightly immature demeanor when you involve smutty books or seafood. "

She sighed and slammed her head against the table while Penny softly rubbed her back, a s mile plastered on her face. Neon was blushing, rubbing her neck in uneasiness while Flynt was simply sitting with his arms crossed.

"But to answer you question Neon" said Weiss, still her face against the table, mumbling slightly "No, I did not sleep with Yang"

"Good, because if you did, you and I would need to have a talk. "

Suddenly, Weiss stood up, blushing madly as Taiyang dissolved in a fit of laughter, holding his sides with all his strength, trying his best not to fall. After a few moments of a blushing Weiss babbling quickly and everybody else laughing at what was happening, Taiyang slowly dried his tears from laughter, gasping slightly for air. When everybody calmed down, Taiyang simply walked to one of the cabinets to take out a bag of chips. Still blushing, Weiss was rocking on her heels, looking at the ground, awaiting the anger of the hunter.

"Weiss, don’t worry, it’s okay, I’m not mad. I’ve heard… Well, I’ve heard everything, so I have to tell you this. Don’t worry, because you’re not the only one that went through this. You’re not the first one and believe me, you won’t be the last. So, if anything happens with any of my girls, you have my blessing, because I know that you won’t hurt any of them. "

The heiress quickly nodded still blushing, but at least smiling.

"But… If someone could go get Yang for me, I have a few things to talk to her, especially about… " slack jawed, Taiyang didn’t finish his sentence, starring at the entrance of the dining room. Everybody turned around and Weiss gasped loudly as she looked at the new appearance of Yang’s arm.

The arm was now a deep black, with the joints, the finger tips and the elbow a shiny gold colored tone added to it. But what made Weiss smile the most, was the four symbols that were surrounded by a yellow circle. First, a red rose, followed by a white snowflake, a black Belladonna flower and finally, a black burning heart, all aligned from the wrist o the elbow in a perfect line. Grinning, Yang moved her arm slowly to showcase every side of it, acting as innocently as possible.

"What, is something wrong? " she asked, smugly

"That" said Taiyang with a smile on his lips "is some badass robot arm"

"Yeah, but it’s not yet finished, I have some last things to add to it when the paint will be completely dried. So dad, what did you want to tell me? "

"Well… I’ll be heading to Vale for a few days, there are things I want to know. But… I won’t be going alone. And I want you to know with whom I’m going. "

He took out his scroll and sent a message, before moving slowly to the living room, where Neo was sitting. In a heartbeat, Weiss casted glyphs to pin down Neo to the couch, while Yang’s semblance instantly made her hair flicker with energy, her hands clenching in fists. Seeing the reaction of both the other girls, Neon, Flynt and Penny were quick to pull out their own weapons, ready for a fight, before Taiyang groaned at the reaction the presence of Neo had caused.

"See? This is why I told you to wait outside. Okay everyone, store your weapons, it’s okay, she’s not evil. "

"She tried to kill me! " yelled Yang, doing everything to keep her anger in check.

"Yes, but Yang, what did I tell you about rushing into a problem? She did things because she was ordered to do things. But now, she’s free to do what she wishes, and that, is to get her revenge on Cinder, the woman who caused everything that happened in Vale. She has given me information about things that I need to look into, maybe pull some strings I haven’t used in a while. "

"Like what, exactly? " asked Weiss, dryly as she removed the glyphs from Neo’s legs and arms, in an act of good will, but keeping her torso and waist pinned to the couch.

"Like the fact that some guy in Vale has too much information and could really need the supervision of an adult on how he’s handling such information…" answered Taiyang, gritting his teeth. "Now undo your glyphs please, we have a boat to take in an hour and she needs to pack some stuff for a few days, even if she says she doesn’t need anything. "

Reluctantly, Weiss undid her final glyphs glaring menacingly at Neo, who simply smiled as she stood up, doing a little curtsy. However, when she was done with her curtsy she sighed and looked at Yang, saddened, before slowly walking outside. Everybody stood still before Yang turned around, heading to the garage, to the punching bag they had in it. Looking at the group that was assembled in the living room, Weiss groaned.

"Alright, but let’s do something to ease us. Penny, I want you to accompany Mr Xiao Long and… her. If she tries anything fishy, don’t be afraid to hit her hard. She’s dangerous. "Penny nodded firmly, heading to the bedroom that neon and Flynt were using, to go take a change of clothes. "Flynt, Neon, I want you to head to an hotel near the airfield and keep an eye on anyone, or anything, that may look suspect If there is anything you find suspicious, keep me informed. "

"Well, impressive Snow Princess, you actually are more bite than bark. "

"And you! Weren’t you supposed to keep HER safe? To protect Ruby, but also Jaune, Ren and Nora? "

Qrow stood still for a few moments, before smiling and ruffling the heiress’ hair as he passed her towards the door, heading outside the house "Yeah, I’ll miss you too Snow Princess. And, Weiss? " he looked back towards her, their eyes locking into each other for an instant, before he waved at her as he finally left the house. "I know that Winter would be proud of you. You are growing into a fine lady. Keep moving forward"

Weiss smiled softly as the drunkle left the house and she sighed as she looked around. She knew where everyone was, but… she wasn’t where she had to be. She took a deep breath and closed the distance between herself and the garage door.

If that blond oaf didn’t want to face her demons, she’d have to face Weiss Schnee. And frankly, it’s highly probable that Yang would have preferred to face her demons when she had the chance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You just gazed your eyes upon the one and only... Filler chapter! 
> 
> I couldn't move forward with the next arc as quickly as I wanted, thus I didn't have a choice to add a chapter to make sure that everybody was doing something else that wouldn't force me to make the next arc even longer considering that a total of 13 characters are currently linked together for that story, so... Yeah... 
> 
> I have to give a huge thanks to reddit user backtospawn who is really helpful in his comments about my work, without whom I don't know if it would be written the same way it is right now.
> 
> If you have any advice for my writing, any review about the story or you want to say anything, just hit me up! Really, knowing that some people like what I do just makes my day!


	7. Train and reunite (finally)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yang just had a bad day, she needs to get the talk and get her mind off her problems. Maybe Weiss could be useful? *wink wink nudge nudge*

Opening the door slowly, Weiss smiled softly when she saw Yang punching away her anger on a punching bag, a light coat of sweat covering her forehead. Hitting as hard as she could, the punching bag was swaying more than it should have been possible, especially considering the high amount of sand inside of it. But as she had learned after almost a year, Weiss knew that if there was one thing that Yang was unrivaled in, was her monstrous strength and her high level of endurance. Who else, other than that hot-headed blond, could lift a giant speaker, survive being shot through the roof of the cafeteria and land down after an absurd amount of time and being punched through a pillar of solid concrete by a giant mech? She was a tank. She was strong, powerful, confident. She was always there for any of them to unwind and take out some pressure, some stress. She was always smiling, always happy, always supportive. She was always there for all of them, never asking anything in return. But she also never explicitly came for support herself. She always said that she was alright, that nothing was aloof, that everything was perfectly fine. But Weiss, Ruby and Blake, they could always see when something was bothering her, but they never once tried to get it out from her. But now, there was only one last thing to be done.

"Yang, stop it, this instant! " she said firmly, just before the blond brawler hit the punching bag once more with her robotic hand.

"Why Weiss? I don’t have the right to do something? I don’t have the right to tell my father that this woman is dangerous, I don’t have the right to want him safe, I don’t have the right to give my opinion and now I don’t have the right to punch things? I’m an adult Weiss, I’m older than you even, so please, don’t give me that shit! I lost an arm, but I can still take care of…"

Weiss rolled her eyes, before grabbing Yang by her left hand, pulling her towards the maintenance bench, she kept her eyes locked on Yang until they were both sitting down. Taking out the air brush, Weiss slowly made sure that the paint that was removed from Yang’s punching on the bag was replaced with some new one, as well as putting a second layer on the parts that needed it. She went at it in silence for what felt like hours for both of them. She heard the door open, Neon gasp and the door closing quickly, but she never reacted. She ignored everything, taking great care in the task at hand.

"Yang… you have to be more careful with it. Especially when the paint is still not dry"

"Weiss, why are you doing this? I can do it you know"

"I’m doing it, because I’m sick of seeing you help us deal with our problems, but shut us out when you are having some of your own. We all were, back at Beacon. We were all worried that it might blow up one day and that it would be catastrophic. And… the way I see it? It is already catastrophic. "

Looking up from the metal arm, Weiss took a deep breath, locking eyes with the brawler, ice blue in warm lilac. She slowly smiled, before putting down the air brush, moving away from the robotic arm to rest her hands on her knees, which were just a few centimeters away from Yang’s.

"You know, those benches are made so that you can let stuff dry on it. That way you don’t leave paint everywhere. Come on. It’s just us for a few days. It’s almost like the good old time when we were all together in the dorm. "

Smiling softy, Weiss stood up before heading back out of the garage, leaving Yang to look at the arm in silence. Going back to the bedroom, Weiss removed her summer dress, paint stains on it and she groaned when she looked at her hands that were dirty as well. She quickly headed to the bathroom with her towel, a shower being the only thing on her mind at that moment.

For her part, Yang stood silently in the garage, looking at her right arm, at the beautiful arm that she used to had, replaced by this robotic appendage. She took a deep breath and slowly began to remove it, making sure to not touch the paint. When it was finally fixated on the bench, she slowly moved away from it, fearing that something, anything happened to it or her, for the time they were separated. But she knew it would never happen. She was safe right now. Her father had left, but he was coming back. He was going to make it back, he was not leaving forever. Not leaving for good, like her mother had. She smiled softly as she looked at the closed door, thinking of her caring teammate, Weiss, of what she had done in only two days, everything that she had sacrificed just to be beside her friends once more. Slowly Yang stood up, thinking of her little sister, her little ray of sunshine after Summer’s passing. She thought of everything they lived, everything they went through together. She felt happy when she finally opened the door, heading towards the kitchen for something to eat. Maybe she didn’t always lose what mattered to her. Maybe she still had people that weren’t going to leave her. Even if the ones she cared the most about already did.

Stopping in front of the sink, she sighed and rested her hand against the tap. Weiss had come back yes, but Ruby had left and Blake had fled. They weren’t coming back, or at least weren’t coming back soon. Same for Qrow, even if it was to take care of Ruby. And her mother had abandoned her when she was a toddler. But the worst thing is that she even managed to be angry at her mom, at Summer, for dying. Why did she have to die on that mission? She had promised them cookies and a new story. But she never came back, they never had those cookies and…

Taking a deep breath, Yang’s gaze was suddenly filled with resolve and she clenched her fist, before beginning to rummage through the cupboards. She had things to do, things that should have been made long ago.

 

* * *

 

After a scolding hot shower, something she had disregarded the previous day, Weiss slowly walked back to her room, the towel around her body, hiding everything. Not that it really mattered as no one other than Yang was in the house and, after a full year in living in close proximity with her teammates, it was something that didn’t bother her as much as it used to. She smiled when she remembered how things were different in the beginning. When she and Blake were always hiding when changing clothes, while the sisters seemed to have almost no shame. Of course, after one year of training, life threatening missions and bonding, things tend to change quite drastically. Trust was the biggest thing that had changed in their relationship as a team. They cared about each other, they didn’t have someone else that they had that kind of relationship outside of their team. It was something that…

Suddenly Weiss stopped in her tracks as she took a deep breath, taking in the smell that was assailing her senses. She quickly got to her room, putting up another change of clothes, a light blue blouse with a pair of black pants, the Schnee crest emblazoned on both clothing pieces. She quickly headed to the kitchen and stared at the lightly humming Yang who was taking out a batch of cookies from the oven, while a bowl of dough was still on the side, ready to be portioned and cooked. Moving closer with a smile, Weiss looked at the mess that was the kitchen, flour on the floor when a bag a dropped, a broken egg on the counter top and a bag of chocolate chips empty while a second one, with a note written "Reserved for Ruby, eat at your own risks" with a drawing of what Weiss assumed was Ruby with Crescent Rose. Rolling her eyes, Weiss laughed softly.

"She’s such a dunce…"

Jumping in surprised, Yang almost dropped the cookies, but quickly got her balance back and left the hot cookies to cool on top of the oven, with her eyes, darting to the Heiress who simply looked at her in disbelief. "Holy shit, you scared me! Don’t do that again! "

"I’m sorry, I didn’t… I don’t… Sorry? "

"It’s okay, it’s just… Damn, I thought that you were still in your shower, that’s all. "

"Oh, yeah, I finished about ten minutes ago. But, seriously Yang, what are you doing? "

"Well… cookies? "

Weiss took a deep breath to calm her anger and simply looked back at Yang with her infamous death glare, which only made the blond woman laugh. Crossing her arms to emphasize on her point, Weiss slowly walked to the grinning woman and, with a simple smile, hit her as hard as she could on the arm.

"You know that’s not what I meant! Why are you making those cookies? "

"Because… because someone had to do them at some point. When our mom left for her last mission we were supposed to have cookies when she came back and… well you know. So, I finally did them. The cookies that Summer Rose was supposed to have made 12 years ago. "

"Yang…"

"Don’t worry, it’s just that… I was thinking about stuff and it clicked in my head. They were never done. Of course, we did a lot of cookies since, but they were never… Summer’s cookies you know? Well, now they’re finally done. Maybe that’ll help her rest more in peace. "

Slowly Weiss moved to the brawler and took her into her arms, hugging her softly as the taller woman just ran her hand on the back of the heiress. They stood still for a few minutes, before Weiss slowly moved away from the hug, smiling softly at Yang.

"I’m pretty sure your mom is proud of Ruby, your father and you. And I’m certain that she is happy where she is, even if you never did those cookies just because she was supposed to do them. "

"Yeah… probably. But I felt like I had to do it. "

"Well, now you’ve done it, so how about we test them? After that, I want to practice my summoning, I feel like I’m so close to do a breakthrough. "

"How comes? " asked Yang, a cookie already in her mouth, making sure to hide her mouth with her hand, preventing Weiss from being utterly disgusted at the sight of half eaten food.

Sighing, the heiress simply stood up, straightening her combat skirt, before closing her eyes, making a glyph appear next to her. After a few seconds, a flash of light was emitted and a blue and white beowolf stood next to Weiss, snuggling against her hand. Mouth hanging open, Yang simply looked at the creature in amazement.

“So, yes, that’s a thing my semblance can do. I can summon defeated enemies. However, I can’t… I can’t understand how to summon completely my first real challenge. A gigantic suit of armor, a knight, that I had to fight to gain the right to go to Beacon. I managed to summon part of it during the fall, but now, I can’t! and it‘s driving me crazy!”

Grinning, Yang quickly ate the last bit of her cookie, before dragging Weiss by the hand through the front door. The heiress for her part, followed the brawler, knowing that she could never manage to fight back against her when Yang got an idea in her head. Out in the clearing surrounding the house, a small circle of dirt had been made, a little sparring arena made especially for the needs of a duel between a student and a teacher. Smiling softly, Weiss looked at the blond woman that was leading her with a fond smile. It amazed her how resilient she was, even if she still had her moments of doubt. She lost an arm, a sister and her friends, but she was still smiling, still being active. She was still a force to be reckoned with. Well, at least, that was what the heiress thought. It might have been wrong, but she had the right to hope.

"Alright then, let’s do this! "said the blond, grinning as she got into a fighting stance, even without her right arm. "You come at me as best as you can with your summons and glyphs and I, will go without my right arm. "

"Yang, we… don’t have to do this, you know? You can go take the…"

"No, I wont. What happens if the arm breaks during a fight? Or if I can’t use it for some reason? And what if you’re out of dust or something and you can’t cast elemental glyphs? We have flaws and we need to work on those. So, use your body as a weapon or any of your non-elemental glyphs or summons and I… I will not use my right arm or semblance. You know what they say, what doesn’t kill us, makes us stronger. So, come on Weiss, just like old times! "

Rolling her eyes, Weiss smiled and got in position as well. It is true that they all had flaws. Everybody has at least one, nobody is perfect. But Weiss never had the courage to face her flaws and tackle them head on. She wasn’t strong like Yang, she never was. But she could at least try to be like her. Readying her gaze, she slowly circled at the same pace Yang did. Weiss wasn’t an offensive fighter, she always knew that it was never be her way of shining. She could, however, be a force to be reckoned with to support her team or even go on the defensive. Her glyphs could be used in a thousand of different ways, as much as the user could find for them. Her weapon was good for one on one, but it heavily centered around a mix of blocks, parry and counter attack, thus making it good in a defensive style. With her agility and her many glyphs, she could easily change the momentum of a fight to her favor, but it was harder to gain the offensive first hand. Now without a weapon, without something to keep her grounded, she had to rely on her wits and her capacity to improvise. She smiled when she saw Yang finally attacking, and quickly a glyph appeared in front of Weiss, acting as a wall to prevent the hit to connect. Each and every punch or kick that followed were promptly blocked in a similar way, making the brawler grunt in exasperation.

"Oh, you’re really building a wall of glyph? I’m going to make you pay for this! "

"Says the girl who can’t hit a still target. "

The banter followed suit, just like the fight. After half an hour, multiple rounds of practice and both girls being out of breath, they collapsed on the ground, one next to the other, gasping for air as they laid still, a smile on their faces, even if Weiss had her arms crossed. Grinning, Yang poked her in the ribs, making the heiress groan when her body remembered that she also had muscles there that were hurting her.

"I won more than you did. "

"Shut up dolt, that was not the objective of that training session! "

"But I still won~ "

Groaning, Weiss stood up, before looking back at Yang with a little bit of mischief in her eyes. She rolled over the blond, sat on her stomach while running her hands on the brawler’s shoulders and smiled when she saw the woman turn redder than Ruby’s cloak.

"Oh, congratulation Yang, would you like to be rewarded with a prize of some sort? "

Uttering multiple sounds of incomprehension, Yang was left gawking at the heiress who simply stood up, heading back towards the house with – allegedly – a bit more sway to her than usual. Smiling, she quickly got back to her room, took a new set of clothes and dashed to the bathroom, in a dire to get rid of all her sweat.

 

* * *

 

Their training continued for the following days, the first one training with their weapons without semblance, the second day they trained in a situation in which they were outmatched, one with a weapon the other without. On the third day, they took the time to meditate and work on Weiss’ summoning, managing to summon the sword, which Yang had fun swinging around. On the fourth day, they recalled Neon and Flynt from their mission, for a revenge match that ended in a win from the party team, due to both girls lack of training in the last months. They decided to take a break from training on the fifth day, to make some maintenance on and around the house, tending to the garden and doing laundry. Training was not a reason to let the house get dirty and Yang knew that her father and the heiress would both had her head if she ever was the cause of such a thing.

On the sixth day following everybody’s departure, Yang woke up with a light pain in her neck. Groaning as she stood up on her bed, she yawned and rubbed the back of her head as she looked around. Weiss was still asleep next to her and it suddenly occurred to Yang that they had multiple beds and couches that the heiress could use but neither of them had thought about it. Facepalming with her robot arm, Yang groaned in pain as she almost hit her head through the headboard of her bed. But this didn’t deter her amazement at the situation. She had, for the first time in a long time, used her right arm as her go-to arm for something, rather than her left. She was adjusting quickly to her new arm, she was slowly getting back to her normal self... "No… This is normal now. Nothing else. I’m just adjusting, that’s all! " she said under her breath, trying not to wake up Weiss. Getting out of bed, Yang giggled softly as she heard Weiss whimpered from the loss of her personal heater in bed. Giggling, Yang undressed and got into a pair of jean shorts, red t-shirt and black jacket, removing her arm to leave it on night stand. Even if she had got her arm back, she didn’t have the luxury to always rely on it and she still had to sometime practice to live without it. It hurt her so much, regressing from two arms to only one so regularly, but she had to do it. She couldn’t become an hindrance every time she was without an arm. Thus, every few days she made sure to remove her arm and live the day without it.

She quickly got through her morning routine and, while eating a bowl of cereal, she sat outside to eat on the porch. She felt happy, she felt at peace. Weiss was here, Ruby was saving the world but Qrow was taking care of her, her father was trying to rid her life from her older demons she couldn’t beat. It was perfect for her. For the first time in months, she didn’t have nightmares, she didn’t wake up in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat after having relived her dismemberment for the hundredth time. She closed her eyes and smiled, resting her head against the wall. Maybe she could take a quick nap and go to the town with Weiss today to buy some food. Maybe that way they’ll be able to know if her disappearance had made big news or not. They had a bet, that Yang was hoping to win. After all, having one of the richest person on Remnant owing you one, could only lead to greatness. She giggled softly, imagining everything she could do with a literally limitless credit card but her laughter died in her throat when she heard voices coming from her left. Tensing, she stood up and slowly walked towards the voices, the people to whom they belonged to still hidden by the forest. Nobody came around here without having called, especially groups. At least, Yang thought, they aren’t trying to hide themselves, which makes it less possible that they’re Schnee agents coming to take back Weiss.

Finally, four figures came out of the wood, making Yan stop dead in her tracks a she looked at them intensely. But her gaze was quickly captured by someone else, a dark-haired woman that was following the group a few meters back, staying silent but freezing as well when their eyes met. Everybody stood still for a good minute, before a brown-haired diva grinned while crossing her arms.

"What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue? "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY! We're back to speed, the story is back on track! 
> 
> It should be ending in 5-6 chapters if my planning doesn't go to shit in the next few chapters. Can't wait to exit the Yangst and get into fluff finally! 
> 
> I have to give a huge thanks to reddit user backtospawn who is really helpful in his comments about my work, without whom I don't know if it would be written the same way it is right now.
> 
> If you have any advice for my writing, any review about the story or you want to say anything, just hit me up! Really, knowing that some people like what I do just makes my day!


	8. Reconciliation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yang gets angry, everybody talks, THE BEES!!! and picnic time (Seriously, a lot is happening here, stay focused)

"What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue? "

Smiling, Coco looked at Yang for a moment, before her smile quickly faded. Yang was not looking happy. Yang looked angry, her gaze locked on Blake. Everybody stood still, not a word was ushered, before Yang turned around, heading back towards her house, her fist clenched. Coco began to run towards the blond woman, before Yatsuhashi’s hand grabbed her by the elbow, shaking his head softly.

"She wants to be left alone. She’s angry, there’s probably a ton of emotions that are going through her head. Leave her some time. "

Groaning, Coco turned around towards Blake, but yelled in anger when she saw that the cat woman had disappeared once more. Going back towards the forest, the diva punched right through a tree, splinter raining down on the area, as she slowly regained her cool. Taking deep breaths to calm herself down, Coco rubbed the bridge of her nose, before turning back to her team.

"Alright. Search the area for Blake. Like hell I’m letting her get away so close to her team. This is bullshit! Spread out and warn the others if you find a clue, I - "

"Hum… Coco… I’m right here… "

Turning around, ready to strangle the black cat, Coco stopped in her tracks when she saw the greenish look on Blake. Gasping, Coco hurriedly took out her water bottle, before handing it to Blake, who happily rinsed her mouth with some water.

"What were you doing? " asked the rabbit faunus, worry filled in her voice as she looked closely at the raven-haired woman.

"Seeing Yang like this made me so guilty, I… I felt sick, so… yeah. " Nodding slowly, Velvet sat down beside Blake, both faunus kept the silence but slowly Blake smiled, not a happy smile however, a resigned smile that worried the members of team CFVY. "Well, at least, I know she hates me and doesn’t want to see me. That solves my problems. " she sighed and began to stand up, straightening her clothes. "I better get away from her, that’s what she wants. Maybe I’ll head back home, see if there’s anything that I can do in Menagerie. "

"Or maybe you could wait and see. That’s the best idea Blake. You don’t know how she feels. " answered the giant, sitting down in front of the cat woman, with a small smile. "Yes, she was angry, but don’t forget that she might have been angry at you for a long time, for leaving her. Wait and see. That’s the best thing that you could do. "

"He’s right. Leave her some time. You never know what could happen. " said the bunny girl, smiling softly at the other faunus, who sighed and sat back down, hugging her knees to her chest.

* * *

 

"God. " _thud_ "Damn. " _thud_ "It. " _thud_ "Fucking. " _thud_ "Bitch. " _thud_ "Why. " _thud_ "Does. " _thud_ "She. " _thud_ "Come. " _thud_ "Back. " _thud_ "After. " _thud_ "All. " _thud_ "This. " _thud_ "Fucking. " _thud_ "Time. " _CRASH_ "FUCK! "

Walking in the house at a quick pace, Weiss almost tore the garage door off its hinges when she heard the repeated sound of punches on something, as well as Yang’s voice. When she opened the door, she stood still, amazed at the sight. Waves of energy were traveling through Yang’s hair, her eyes crimson and, most importantly, the punching bag was embedded in the garage door, part of it going through. Turning around to look at the person inside, Yang kept her eyes locked on Weiss’ before she got to her knees, crying, the waves of energy slowly lessening in intensity as she kept still on the ground. Weiss dashed to her friend, taking her in her arms. Keeping the brawler close to her, the white-haired woman slowly began to sing a soothing lullaby that Klein used to sing to her in her child years. After a few minutes, Yang took a few deep breaths, calming down her sobs to a minimum.

"She… she’s here. "muttered Yang, hand shaking on Weiss’ shoulder, pleading lilac eyes locked on icy blue ones filled with questions. "Blake is… outside with team CFVY"

Weiss gasped as tears appeared in the corner of her eyes, a soft smile making its way as well to her lips. She rubbed her friend’s back, before frowning as she looked at the other woman. Yang was looking at something in the distance, her mind lost in the past, in events that had changed her life forever, as the sight of Blake made ravages to her psyche. When she began to shudder as her mind kept on its torture, Weiss slowly rubbed her friend’s back.

"Yang, snap out of it" she said softly, worry filled in her voice "It’s okay, everything will be alright. I promise you. You’re safe Yang"

Weiss stood still for a moment, trying to sooth Yang and make her get out of the place her mind had sent her, hunted by her demons. Taking a deep breath before kissing the brawler’s forehead she whispered "I’m sorry", gulped and, mustering every ounce of courage she had, slapped Yang with all her might, waking her from her trauma filled mind with deep crimson eyes. As their eyes locked in each other, fire meeting ice, Yang growled in anger, her hand clenching in a fist.

"Why did you hit me? Do you want to be hurt? "

"If I must be hurt for taking care of one of my best friends, I’ll let myself be pummeled to the ground by you, if it means that it makes you wake up! "

They kept their eyes locked, defiant against the other one, before Yang slumped back on Weiss’ legs. They stood still for a few minutes, before Weiss tugged the brawler’s shoulder, making her open her eyes to look at her friend with a soft smile.

"Sorry that I threatened you Weiss"

"It’s okay, you’ve always been the fiery one anyway. "

"Did… Did you make a good joke? "

"What can I say? You are a bad influence to my behavior"

They both dissolved in a laughing fit, tension lifted off their shoulders. When they finally regained their cool, Weiss smiled softly at her friend who slowly sat up, next to her.

"Yang… I’m going to go see Blake and CFVY. And… I reckon that you should talk with her to understand why she did such a thing. Maybe you’ll be able to be friends once more. "

The brawler sighed and nodded, resting her head against Weiss’ shoulder, making the heiress blush. They both smiled, before they separated from each other, Weiss standing up before looking at the other woman.

"And… maybe put on something better suited than… What you are wearing. You reek of sweat. "

Rolling her eyes, Yang stood up, understanding the message, before grabbing the heiress’ hand, dragging her in for a quick hug, which was quickly answered by the white-haired woman.

"Thank you, Weiss… Thank you for everything. "

"Heh, seriously, I’ve done nothing, your father and uncle were the ones who helped you the most"

"Maybe, but thank you. "

"You… You’re welcome Yang"

* * *

"So… Are we really going to camp here? Like… Couldn’t we go to the hotel or anything? "

Coco was groaning as she looked at her team setting up three tents as well as every other camping material they had, at the edge of the clearing around the house. After three weeks of sleeping in the sand she was at least hoping to lay in the comfiest, fluffiest, softest bed in Vale, but NO, she had to sleep in a god damn sleeping bag for who knows how long. At least it was comfortable to snuggle with her girlfriend.

"Or… Oh, I don’t know, you could ask to have a bed inside. "

Everybody stopped what they were doing as they heard the familiar voice of the heiress. Her hands on her hips, wearing a blue dress with a white radiant from the waist to the extremity of the dress, a white pair of leggings, white high heels and a grey light jacket, she was smiling at the other ex-students, but her gaze was locked on Blake, both teens with tears in their eyes. When Blake finally smiled, Weiss ran towards her friend, who did the same. They reached each other, Blake hugging the shorter woman with all her strength, tears rolling on both their cheeks as they held at each other, happy to be reunited with someone they cared so much about.

"Hey…" said Blake softly, looking down at Weiss with a little smile

"Hey Blake" answered Weiss, happiness irradiating from her voice and body expression as she looked up at her friend.

Coughing loudly, Coco looked at them with a grin, her arms crossed at the monochrome duo, with the rest of her team smiling. Making a round of greetings, Weiss hugged her fellow students before joining the group, sitting next to Blake, a smile on her face as team CFVY explained their last mission, how they were sent to Vacuo to track the White Fang. But after a few days of hunting it quickly devolved in a rebuild and protect effort with the help of Shade academy. Nodding slowly, Weiss turned her head towards her friend, a frown on her face.

"But that doesn’t explain what you’re doing with them. Why did you follow them? "

Blushing, Blake looked down, fidgeting slowly, trying to control her breathing as she felt panic rise in her mind.

"Yeah kitty cat" said another voice making everybody jump in surprise to look at the newcomer. Her left hand on her hip, black pants, brown boots, orange t-shirt and a large duster coat with the right sleeve tied in a knot, completely empty, her usually unruly mane set in a high ponytail, everything about her was showcasing her beauty. Yang, even in her fragile state of mind was still beautiful, except for Blake who was afraid of what the red eyes really meant. "Tell us where you were during all those months. "

"Yang… I…" the faunus tried to speak, emotion getting the best of her, making her voice tremble as she tried to stand up to get the other woman in her arms.

"Shut it! Where. Were. You? Why are you, my partner, with another team? Why did you abandon your friends! Why did you abandon me? " her voice was cold, angry, but Weiss and Coco could hear the telltale sounds and intonations of someone who was doing everything they could to keep their emotion in check, to keep her rage at the most controllable level she could.

As Blake took a deep breath, she gazed down and she slowly told her tale, how she treated her injuries by herself before beginning her hunt of the White Fang across Remnant, from the icy peaks of Atlas, to the deadly jungles and desert of Menagerie. She smiled slightly when she retold the story of saving a young homeless boy who followed her for a few days, keeping her company. Her eyes grew darker when she described the ruined villages she kept finding along her hunt. She looked up and locked eyes with Yang, gulping hard.

"I… I tried to find Adam, to avenge you Yang, to- "

"Good grief you’re dumb! "

"Yang! " shrieked the heiress as she stood up to look at the blond in the eyes. "Insulting her will not resolve anything! "

"I’m not insulting her, just telling the truth, even if it hurts" shot back Yang, her crimson eyes never leaving the ravenette "You could do nothing against him back then, what makes you believe that thing would have been different now? What would you have achieved if he killed you? "

"I would have at least atoned from my sins, atoned for everything I caused you! " said Blake as she stood up herself, her fists clenching in anger.

In a blur, Yang was in front of Blake, grabbing her by the collar of her coat, their eyes locked in each other. Weiss tried to separate them, but Coco swiftly grabbed her hand, slowly shaking her head side to side. They had issues to deal with, both of them. If they prevented them to do such, they would only keep the problems in their relationship.

"Now listen up Belladonna. There’s a difference between avenging someone and getting killed trying to avenge someone. Do you even have a fucking clue why I’m angry at you? Take a guess! "

"Because you lost you arm because of me. " answered Blake in a low breath, trembling.

As soon as she finished her sentence however, a blast of energy and flames engulphed the area making everybody flinch in surprise. Yang tightened her grip around Blake’s coat, anger oozing from her body.

"And here I thought that you were the smart one after Weiss! I had a big reveal planned, something great for you because I hoped that you understood! " Throwing her coat away, she ignored the gasps of surprise of everybody and the tears rolling on Blake’s cheeks as her metallic arm was revealed, having been concealed inside the coat since the beginning. "A limb can be repaired. And even when it’s damaged beyond repair, it can be replaced. Everybody who becomes a huntsmen or huntress makes sacrifices all the time. I sacrificed my arm for you, Weiss sacrificed everything she had to be here right now, fucking hell, Pyrrha made the biggest sacrifice of all by giving her life to try and stop this madness! I would do what I did again in a heart beat, knowing that you would be safe. "

Yang sighed and closed her eyes, before pressing her forehead against Blake’s, who closed her eyes in turn, sobs shaking her body as she tried to supress the sounds that she made.

"But what I’m angry about, is that you left me. When I was knocked out, you disappeared from my life without a word. A body can be repaired, a mind as well, even if it takes time. But do you know how hard it is to repair the lost feelings that you had towards someone? " said Yang in a low voice, whispering those words against Blake who, finally, let her damn break and dissolved in a crying mess, holding Yang with all her might, nuzzling her head in the nook of the brawler’s neck, who simply hold her hand.

She heard the faunus women say something, but she could only understand a few words through the sobs. Yang turned her head to look at Weiss and, with a sigh, grabbed the heiress by the hand and pulled her in the hug. In an instant all three girls were holding tight, Blake still crying, Weiss with tears in her eyes and Yang with a stoic face as she looked towards the sky, holding down her tears, trying to appear as a rock for her friends to lean on for support. Maybe she was a mess, maybe she was missing some parts of her body, but she couldn’t prevent herself from going back into "mom mode", not after al those years with Ruby. After all, Blake had run away from her home, Weiss never really had a family at home and Ruby… well Ruby was Ruby. And this team of broken women, of broken teens, needed something to rest on, someone to help them through their ordeals. And Yang had decided, long ago, that she would be this person for the team, she would be their beacon in the dark, for the wellbeing of the four people she cared the most about. After a few minutes, she loosened her grip around her friends and they all disengaged themselves from each other, but they still remained close to each other. Grinning, Coco winked at Blake who blushed as she sat down next to Yang, her hand right next to the metal one of the brawler. They all talked for a while, all 7 of the young adults exchanging stories of their past, be it of Beacon of before. Team CFVY told how their initiation went, how they had to fight twenty-seven beowolves and five alpha as they fled from the temple. Weiss made everybody laugh when she recalled a story about Winter, a homemade zip line and a broken window. Blake for her part explained life on Menagerie, how was life down under. They kept at it for a few hours, simply relaxing after a few hard days, week, months. When the sun finally reached its Zenith, Yang stood up, stretching her arms and back.

“Alright. There’s meat in the fridge, feel free to cook what you want. There’s also a barbecue in the shed, just cook outside and everything’ll be okay.”

Everybody looked up at the brawler, with raised eyebrows, Weiss sighing at the blond antics.

“And where do you think you’re going, leaving your friends in your own house?” asked the fashionista, with a smile, before the heiress could say anything.

“I’m going to go fetch a friend. I made a promise a few months back. I have to live up to it. I’ll be back in an hour. Make sure to make food for eight. Thanks a bunch Coco. Oh, and Weiss, you’re in charge of making sure that the house doesn’t explode thanks!” the brawler before kissing Weiss’ forehead before running off to the shed, to take her bike towards a small little village in the east of the island.

What she never saw was the pain in Blake’s expression or the blush and smile from Weiss. She never saw Coco facepalm when she saw the two girl’s reaction, before heading inside to begin to cook. She never saw Fox hand Yatsuhashi a stack of lien while Velvet glared at the two men of the group. With a smile, Yang took off, weaving on the small dirt paths of the island as she made way towards the village of Lili, where someone was awaiting her weekly meeting with the brawler.

* * *

Forty-five minutes later, the small group perked up when they heard a motorcycle getting nearer. The monochrome pair looked back towards the road while Coco was taking out the meat and fish from the grill. They saw the motorcycle drive behind the house to go park and, as everybody was finishing up to put on the finishing touches to the picnic area, they heard Yang speak to someone else as she got near them.

“I promise you, they are super nice. And I’m sure they’ll like you as much as I do.” Said the brawler as she turned the corner of the house.

A million of things were going on inside Blake’s head, as panic overtook her brain. Of course Yang would have someone else, she was so pretty, so kind, so strong, how could anybody like her stay single for a long time, even in her state? How could anybody like Yang have feel any love towards someone like Blake? They were so different, of course Yang couldn’t like her like she did. Of course, her love wouldn’t be returned in kind.

In Weiss’ brain things were similar, but rather than panic it was anger. In the past week they had spent together, never had Yang spoke of someone she liked! Never had Yang told something about a relationship! Weiss was angry and was about to tell to Yang how she felt about that treason, but she was prevented of doing such by a giggling Velvet.

“So, who’s that friend that we’ll like Yang? Did you forget to say anything to us ab…” the bunny girl never finished her sentence, shock overcoming every brain power she had, as it did to everybody else.

In front of her stood a blushing seven-year-old girl with a small red helmet with a rose decal on the side. Wearing a pink t-shirt with black shorts, the small girl had long purple hairs with white highlights that flowed up to the middle of her back, the bangs of her hair making her bright blue eyes almost flash on her pale face. She was standing at around 4 feet tall. She slowly waved at the group of young adults who kept staring at her, until Yang cleared her throat, her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised at her friends, wondering what was going on.

“So… Hum Yang…” began Coco when she regained her composure, putting down the grilled chicken on the table. “Care to explain to us who’s the squirt?”

“Hey! I’m not that small!” puffed the young girl, crossing her arms in a pout, which made the fashionista grin as she swept the young girl in her arms.

“I already like you girl!”

Slowly everybody regained their cool and they all introduced themselves. She shook hands with the members of team CFVY, before stopping in front of Weiss and Blake, with little glints in her eyes as she stared at them in amazement.

“You are Weiss and Blake! You’re Yang’s teammate and partner! You’re even more beautiful than she said!”

Yang, Weiss and Blake all chocked as they heard what the young girl said, making Coco burst out laughing while hitting the table repeatedly, snorting and struggling to breath normally while the other members of her team were doing barely better with Velvet hiding her laughter behind her hand.

Blushing, Weiss looked away from the girl, while Blake simply fidgeted in place, unsure of what to say. After a little awkward moment, Blake smiled softly at the young girl as she shook her hand as well.

“I am Blake yes, but… Who are you? Yang didn’t tell us about you.”

“Oh, my god… She’s the friend you went to see when you stormed off the other day…” said Weiss as the realisation finally struck her. She facepalmed and groaned, having forgotten that the friend that she went to see that day was a little 6 or 7-year-old girl. When she removed her hand, she smiled as the girl was still staring at her with a big smile. Sighing while still smiling, Weiss shook the small girl’s hand while still looking at Yang and Blake who were talking, sitting down at the table to eat lunch. The heiress quickly looked back at the young girl before winking at her with a smile.

“After we have eaten, I’m counting on you to tell me what Yang has told you about us. Deal?”

“Deal!” answered the young girl with a wink of her own, dashing quickly to sit next to Yang.

Looking at the table of friends, Weiss couldn’t hold her smile and took out her scroll to send a message to Flynt and Neon, telling them that they could come back, after a week of surveillance they had done enough.

“Weiss, hurry up or you won’t have anything to eat!”

“I would if Blake didn’t eat all the fish!”

“It’s mine!” said the cat faunus, exaggerating her reaction to make their new friend laugh.

Maybe, after all this time, thought the ravenette as she looked at the blond brawler next to her, they could still become close like they used to. Maybe she still had a chance for another family. One that she stopped running from.

And looking at Yang having fun with the young 7-year-old only managed to send the faunus’ brain in overdrive, imagining a small child with blond hair, amber eyes and a pair of cat ears on her head. In a second Blake turned her head away, blushing as she avoided Coco’s grin. She didn’t need this right now.

They were happy and having fun. It was a first in 8 months for the cat faunus. She wanted to make the most of it. Who knows how long it would take before the situation became Grimm once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll go in a college induced coma beginning as of today so... See you soon!
> 
> I have to give a huge thanks to reddit user backtospawn who is really helpful in his comments about my work, without whom I don't know if it would be written the same way it is right now.
> 
> If you have any advice for my writing, any review about the story or you want to say anything, just hit me up! Really, knowing that some people like what I do just makes my day!


	9. The talk(s)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not believing in yourself doesn't mean you aren't a good person. Yang is reminded that and Taiyang has some important talks with everybody who needs one.

After their picnic, once Flynt and Neon joined back with the group of teens, they decided to take advantage of the Xiao Long-Rose household, as well as the nearby beach. Allegedly, Coco's first dive in water caused her to moan in such a loud and erotic way, that the other swimmers kicked her out, forcing her to go swim away from everybody else. Velvet and Neon lounged in the sun, on towels as they decided to work on their tans, while Flynt, Fox, and Yatsuhashi made the dishes. Weiss and Blake, for their part, were grinning and blushing, while Yang was hiding her face behind her hands, redder than Ruby's cloak.

"And she also said that you are the most graceful woman ever!"

"Violet… please stop… Weiss, don't listen to her…" groaned Yang as she banged her head against the table that they sat at.

"Oh no, you don't! We want to know everything" said Blake, with a smirk, as they kept questioning Violet about what Yang had told about them throughout the months.

"Well… she also told me that she was the worst sist –"

"Ok, we're done! Violet, I'm bringing you home now." said Yang coldly as she stood up abruptly from her seat. They all stood still before Violet pouted and crossed her arms.

"But Yaaaaaaang!"

"No buts! Your mom will kill me if I don't bring you back soon and -" the blond woman trailed off as two hands rested on her left arm. She looked up and gazed at the pleading looks her teammates were giving her.

"Yang" began Blake, before the brawler removed her arm from their grasps "You are a wonderful and amazing sister."

"But I'm not" Yang muttered back, looking away in shame. She's stopped seeing herself as a good sister ever since Ruby woke up. She had been so cold and distant with her, she had ignored her dear little sister, her treasure in life. She knew that Ruby saw her as the sun, as a blazing ball of fire that could illuminate everything around her and make everything better. But in the few weeks that Ruby spent at home, Yang had been only a giant storm cloud that hid the sun and made everything bleaker. She had been the worst sister she could have been, especially after such a tragedy.

"Yang Xiao Long! Look at me!" said a new voice, making the girls jump in surprise and turn around, looking at the blond man and the two women that stood beside him. The man walked to Yang and grabbed her by the shoulders, looking her straight in the eyes before hugging her with all his strength. "Yang, you have been the best sister in the world since the death of Summer. You were five years old and you still managed to be a better parent than I ever was. So no, shut up. You are the best sister in the world and one of the two best daughters there is. Never forget that."

Taiyang slowly rubbed his daughter's back as he held her against him. He looked up and smiled at the two other young girls, before grabbing them by their hand and hugging them as well. The monochrome duo both made a little sound of surprise as they were pressed against the Xiao Long pair. Blushing, they returned the hug, making Taiyang smile fondly. After a few moments, everybody disengaged themselves from each other. Blake and Weiss looking away with a blush, Yang rolling her eyes with a smirk when she saw Violet give her two thumbs up. Taiyang however, kept his gaze locked on the two girls that stood before him, with a smile.

"You are both great women as well. I've spoken a few times with Ruby and Yang while you were all at Beacon and they didn't stop telling me how amazing you both are. You three, Yang Weiss, Blake, are a team with Ruby. She may not be here right now, but you have to make a decision about it. Will you let it pull you apart? Will you let the past drive you? Or will you grow closer from it? Will you live, day by day, while the past can't hold you down? Whatever you choose to do, never forget this. You are a team. You three, as well as Ruby, will be closer than with anybody else, maybe even than a husband or wife. You will develop a bond that will be stronger than anything. You will feel things that you have never felt for anybody else. Being a huntsman team means being closer with one another than with anybody else. So, as someone who has had to live with a team that broke… I don't wish this to you."

Slowly the girls nodded, looking at each other with various degrees of smiles before someone clearing its throat made them look around, where a smiling Penny and a grinning Neo stood. Seeing the ice cream colored girl made Blake tense and she grabbed her weapon on her back. In a fraction of a second, she dashed towards the psychotic woman, who smiled angrily and blocked the sword with her umbrella, lazily twirling into Blake's guard, winking at the cat faunus before spinning and kicking her away. Groaning in pain, Blake used her clone to propel herself towards the other woman and tried to stab her in the abdomen. As soon as her blade hit her opponent, however, she shattered against her sword and, an instant later, Blake was hit by the blunt end of the umbrella. Neo began to unsheathe her blade and, with a mad smile kept her gaze locked on Blake as she walked towards her.

"Neopolitan! Drop your weapon this instant!"

Tensing in surprise, with wide eyes, Neo let go of her weapon, turned around towards Taiyang who was glaring at her and she pouted. She pointed at Blake, then at herself, before raising her arms in the air in exasperation.

"Oh no, you don't like this towards me! Stop the sass now!"

Stomping her foot, she pressed her hands against her head before mimicking an explosion, glaring at the man in front of her.

"Oh please, stop being childish, she couldn't know that you weren't her enemy right now."

She pointed at Yang and Weiss, who were just dumbstruck at what was unfolding in front of them, before pointing at Blake and rolling her eyes.

"She acted on instinct, don't be a bitch about it."

As they kept their discussion (or whatever this could be described as) Yang and Weiss stood still, their eyes going from Taiyang to Neo when either of them was talking or miming.

"Did your father stopped her by… by…"

"By being a dad? Yeah, I'm just as surprised as you."

Slowly they walked towards Blake who had sat down to look at the exchange between the huntsman and the psychopath, mouth hanging as she tried to understand what was going on. She looked at Yang who was grinning weakly.

"What's the matter kitty cat?"

"Care to explain to me what's going on?"

Yang snorted and crossed her arms, before looking at Weiss who simply rolled her eyes before nodding. Yang smiled and looked back at her partner, her grin still present. "Well, long story short, Weiss flew away from dear old daddy with the help of Neon and Flynt, taking Penny with them, ice cream lady gave back the half of Ember Celica that was…" her smile faltered as she reminded herself where the second half of her weapon had been and why it was there. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, gulped back her emotions and she braced herself for a moment before going again. "At Beacon, then she went with Penny and Dad to gain and control information spreading in Vale, while Weiss and I spent all week here, training and doing some housework."

Nodding slowly, Blake looked at the bickering duo as Yang and Weiss sat against her. The heiress laid her hand on Blake's left hand, while Yang did the same with the right one. Blushing, Blake made a content sigh, her eyes moving between the two women beside her, two of the people she cared the most about.

"You know… there's nothing like being home… like being with you. Even if we're missing the dolt." said Weiss, making the two other girls raise an eyebrow. "Well, I mean… I have a family, I have a home, but none of them ever felt real to me. Well, except for Winter. She's the only one that I ever felt like she cared about me. But in truth, You two, with Ruby and maybe even to an extent, JNPR, are my home now, my family. Not the SDC, not the Mansion or anybody else."

Yang hummed in agreement, smiling softly she simply looked at the two other women. They stayed like this, getting comfort from each other in silence, for what felt like an eternity for Yang, but she was quickly brought back to the real world when she heard Blake speak.

"Shouldn't we… you know, try to stop them?" she asked, as she looked at Neopolitan and Taiyang now fighting each other, while Penny simply looked at them, facepalming as Violet slowly patted her back, giggling.

Yang laughed and shrugged as she grabbed the two other smaller women and held them against her, flaring her semblance slightly, just enough to create a warm aura around them, just to make the two women ease into her embrace, just enough to be in a blissful state of content. Yang didn't want to do something, she didn't want to think, to act. She simply wanted to relax, to be with her two favorite persons out of her family, with two of the people she loved the most. Because she knew that they all had to speak about the last few months, about how they felt about each other. Especially about how they felt about Blake having run away again. They had to speak about their feelings and Yang didn't want to do any of this right now. They had to talk about what they would do next, but Yang only wanted to feel at peace, if only for a little while longer. Because right now wasn't speaking time. Right now, it was snuggling time.

 

 

* * *

"So… what… how…" sighed Taiyang as he looked at the group of ten young adults spread around his living room and kitchen. Yang was arm wrestling with Yatsuhashi on the kitchen table, two stacks of lien showing that the giant was the favorite with 8:3 odds. Blake was in the living room, with Neon, Coco, and Velvet as they listened to Penny explain her "rebirth", while Weiss Flynt and Fox were busy making the dishes. "How will you manage for tonight?"

Yang shrugged as her brow furrowed, actually struggling against the giant. She was using her left arm, her non-dominant arm and, unlike her opponent, she didn't train or fight much in the las few months. Tai Rolled his eyes with a smile, before heading out, to join back with Neo, sitting on the porch, looking at the stars, the soft light of the moon gave the clearing an ethereal glow, a grayish blue tint filtering through the clouds. Neo looked at the man for a few seconds before looking back at the stars, hugging her knees to her chest. Without a sound, the huntsmen sat down on the wooden planks, looking at the dark forest and listening to the night song, the cries of all the creatures, big and small, that inhabited the woods. They stood motionless for a few minutes before Neo stood up and began to walk towards the forest. Sighing, Taiyang looked at the mute woman, clearing his throat to get her attention.

"So… where are you going?"

Rolling her eyes, but not turning around, the psychopath simply pointed at the forest.

"And to do what? When we were in Vale, you kept disappearing during the night. So, Neopolitan, where are you going and what are you going to do?"

Throwing her hands in the air in exasperation, before pulling her hands in front of her to frantically a message, she turned around, stomping back to the older man, frustratingly looking back and forth between him and her phone, before shoving it in his face.

Why do you even care? I'm not your prisoner, I'm not one of your daughter, your family or your team, I'm not the friend of anybody in that house, I'm nothing to you. So, why, the fuck, do you care about me?

"Because you are alone." answered Taiyang, matter-of-factly, making Neo flinch as she looked away. "What were you doing each night in Vale when you disappeared from the room?"

Grinning, Neo made a circle with her left thumb and index and made a back and forth motion with her right index. Raising an eyebrow, Taiyang held her gaze until she groaned and sat back down, holding her hatred, her desire to stab the man, inside herself. She took a deep breath, looked down and sighed. Slowly, she looked up at the man and brought her hands, in fists, to her eyes, miming the act of crying.

"And now, the most important question. Why? Why were you crying?" asked the older man, sitting back down and looking at the younger girl. She took a moment to think, but she tapped a few keys on her scroll before showing it to the huntsman.

_Alone._

"But, you aren't." said the man, smiling softly. "If you need anything, just say a word… Well… hum… type iy... you know what I mean."

_You're not my type._

Laughing, Taiyang softly rubbed the young girl's back, comforting her as best as he could "Sorry kiddo, but I've had enough of this ‘relationship' thing, especially after my two wives, and you're too young anyway. That's not what I was saying and you know it. You… you did awful things, but so did my first wife. And, as a matter of fact, you've met each other. It seems you ran away from her if Yang's story of the train incident is on point."

Mouth gaping, Neo looked at Taiyang with fear, incomprehension and so many other emotions in her eyes, signing and pointing madly. Waiting for her to calm down, Taiyang simply looked at her with a little smile.

"Yep, that was my first wife, Yang's mom. But that's the story of another day. But what's important is, that even with all the awful things you did, if you don't want to feel alone, let people in your life. It may take time, they may doubt you, they may be weary, but with time they will open up to you. And you know, you might – "

"Hum… dad…?" said a voice as the door opened quickly, revealing a worried looking Yang. "We may… we may need a new dining table. I… well, you see…"

"You lost, got angry, activated your semblance and destroyed the table by punching through it with your new awesome robot hand?"

"I lost and… yeah okay, you got it perfectly." Answered the blond woman, blushing as she rubbed the back of her head, giggling uncomfortably.

"Alright, I'll work on that tomorrow. But, I'm coming back in to watch over all of you." Taiyang stood up, stretched and walked in, sighing as he passed Yang and looked at the damage done to the house. "God dammit Yang…" he muttered when he went inside, the door closing behind him, leaving Yang and Neo alone on the porch. They didn't say a word to each other for a moment before Yang sighed and crossed her arms.

"I… I never thank you for bringing back my gauntlet. It means a lot for me. So… thank you."

Smiling, Neo nodded slightly, shrugging at the same time, trying to explain that it wasn't anything, she did it, because… because… she wanted revenge. Frowning, Neo looked away, gazing up towards the sky once more. She came here because she wanted to avenge Roman. She came here because she wanted to kill the little Red that caused the death of her Roman, but now… now she didn't think about it as much. Yes, she wanted to avenge Roman, but maybe… Maybe it wasn't the one she should be hunting.

"Hey… Pint size." said Yang, smiling as she made the little psychopath jump, looking at her in surprise. "If you need anything, I'll see what I can do. After all, I owe you at least that much."

Nodding slowly, Neo smiled as she opened her hand, pressing her fingertips against her lips, before moving her hand in the direction of Yang, who raised an eyebrow.

"Hum… Are you trying to tell me something?"

Neo gasped, wide-eyed as she waved her hands around, grabbing her phone swiftly, tapping quickly.

_I'm sorry, it's the sign language way of saying thank you. I forgot that you didn't know! >/////<_

Yang laughed and shrugged, before turning around, heading back inside, with a little smile. She never saw Neo look at her, sigh softly, smile and hug her knees up to her chest once more, this time, however, feeling a little bit less alone than she had before. Maybe, just maybe, she could actually be happy and have friends? Maybe she could actually have a reason to live, rather than a reason to survive. The little psychopath smiled and giggled, without noticing the multiple faint green orbs looking at her from the edge of the forest. She never noticed the drone flying over the house as she entered the building. She was too worried about what kind of drink she'd like to have as she looked at the many alcohol bottles in the kitchen.

Even if she usually preferred sugar rushes, after a week like she just had, maybe it wasn't that bad of an idea. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, after one hectic term, I have finally finished college and I'm now heading for University in August! (HYPE!) I couldn't write much since I was overwhelmed with a fuckton and a half of project, but now that it's summer, I can do a lot more.
> 
> So, I'll try to pump out chapter 10 out before I go to RTX. I have a clear vision of how I want chapter 10 to go and the two main arcs of that chapter. Now I just need to actually manage to write them down as best as I can
> 
> See you guys soon!


	10. Let's get down to Bee's Schnees...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Weiss fucks up, Blake fucks up, Yang gets fed up and shit goes down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's get down to Bee's Schnees, to defeat, the *insert desired bad guy here* !
> 
> so... Sorry if it took so long, I actually had it all wrote down, but a few things happened. 
> 
> 1) RTX WAS FUCKING AWESOME! HAVE YOU SEEN THE WEISS SHORT? YOU HAVEN'T? GET TO IT!  
> 2) My word document of this chapter got corrupted so I had to write everything again...  
> 3) On WordPad or word Online because Word has expired even if I still have the license for a year so I have to go have a talk with someone but  
> 4) Work has been quite a bitch these past few weeks. 
> 
> But, ALAS, chapter 10 has been written and... Oh boy is it a big one. I fear that I may have gone a bit overboard with it but it felt so wrong to stop before... And I really wanted to go for A LOT more

Hours after the beginning of the party, everything finally began to slow down. Night had long ago begun, the morning was slowly coming up, less than two hours away. But in a world where negativity and sadness attract monsters, even the simplest moments could mean a lot for humanity’s safeguard. Especially for those who were hunting the dark creatures. How could you hope to defend the world if you kept brooding and thinking of all the mistakes you have made throughout your life? Some huntsmen and huntresses would close themselves to the world, with hearts made of pure stone, while others would open themselves more, wearing their emotions on their sleeves. Some would get more friendly, while others would become bitter. Each and every one of these warriors of the light had their own way of dealing with it. And it wasn’t different for the students. Be it while they study to be the next defenders of the world or just simple civilians, students were still students. So here they were, Fox and Flynt passed out drunk on Ruby’s and Yang’s old beds, Neo was tucked up in a ball on the recliner, Yatsuhashi asleep on the ground, snoring softly, while Neon was using him as a pillow. Coco and velvet were sandwiching Penny between them while they slept on the sofa bed, both young women hugging the android. 

Meanwhile, Yang, Blake, and Weiss were silently walking back to Yang’s room, all three of them struggling to walk, inebriated as they were. Yang opened the door to her room and let the two other women get in, watching them enter as she smiled softly. When they were both inside, she closed the door slowly, making sure that it didn’t make too much sound, before going to her bed table and slowly undoing her hair from the ponytail it was in. 

Blake looked around, getting as much in as she could. Everywhere she looked, she didn’t see anything… well, anything Yang. She didn’t see band posters like she had in their dorm, she didn’t see something that reminded her of the fiery beauty she knew. The only things that screamed Yang, were the clothes that were dropped around the room. But she could also see that Weiss had made quite a mark in the room. Briefcases were neatly piled up in a corner, all with the trademark emblem of the Schnee family. Looking around, it took a few moments for Blake to realize something. They were both settled in this room. There was only one bed. This meant… oh. OH. Slowly, Blake’s smile faded, looking at the two young woman now talking to each other, seemingly closer than they were ever before. This was why Weiss was here. If they were both sleeping in the same bed, who knows what that might entail for the relationship between these two. Weiss never liked physical contact with other people. Obviously, they were more than simply friends or teammate. Sighing softly, Blake turned around and slowly walked towards the door. 

“Where are you going?” asked Yang, in a voice so cold she may have frozen water just with it. It did, however, manage to make Blake freeze in her movements, her hand on the handle as she tensed up. Turning around, she saw Weiss look at her with a weird look, while Yang didn’t even bother to look her way, keeping her gaze locked on the window. 

“I… I was just going to find a place to sleep. Seems that you both have a bed while I don’t.” Blake answered softly, looking at Yang’s back. 

“Blake…” began Weiss, but was swiftly cut off by Yang. 

“Then leave. You seem to be good at doing that.”

“Yang!” yelled Weiss, her hands balling up into fists as she looked at the blond woman. “She’s here right now, isn’t she?” 

Finally, Yang turned her head around and both the heiress and Faunus woman were greeted with a pair of red eyes. Standing up, Yang towered over them both, as Weiss took a step back. Yang pointed at Blake with her left hand, her right twitching softly. 

“You promised Weiss, you promised us that you would stop running away. You broke that promise once. Then we worked together to solve an issue that was eating away at you. And then you and I had a talk about that. And then, when I lost my arm, you ran away again. And now, you were forced by Coco to be here. Don’t look so surprised, I asked everybody from team CFVY and they told me that you didn’t want to come. And now, now that you’re here, you want to run away again. So, Blake, is it really that difficult, that hard for you to be with us?”

Blake looked at the ground, her ears dipping more and more at each of the accusations, or rather statements, made by Yang. She was right. Every time things didn’t seem to go as she wanted them to, she ran. Every time she was scared of something, she ran. And here she was running away again. Taking a deep breath, she steadied herself before locking eyes with the red eyed brawler in front of her. 

“When Weiss and I split up, I followed an Alpha. While chasing him, I stumbled upon… upon Adam. Adam was the man who was my partner, my best friend in the White Fang. We both had our reasons to fight, we both had our fears, but rather than controlling them, Adam was controlled by them. He changed. He changed so much that at the end I couldn’t recognize him. For… For a while, we were having… Something. I don’t know what it was exactly, but we were having it. And when I ran away from the White Fang, it must have driven him mad. He always wanted as much control over everything he ever had. So, when I found him, when I fought him, he told me he would make everything I ever loved disappear, that he would destroy everything I care about… starting with you.” She walked up to Yang, only a few feet away from her, eyes locked with her in defiance, fists clenched tight. “Do you really believe that I was happy all alone all of those months? That I never thought about you? Every. Single. Day. I would think about you, about Weiss, about Ruby, JNPR, Beacon, my parents. Every day I regretted my choice. But you know what? I didn’t have a choice. Because if I was away from you, if I wasn’t with you, then Adam would have no reason to chase you down. By sacrificing the friendships I had with all of you, by burning all the bridges down, I was preventing HIM from going after you and hurting you more! So, yes, Yang, I ran away! I’m sad I had to do it, but I don’t regret it. Because that means he didn’t hunt you down, any of you, to enact his revenge on me!” 

They both stood their ground, eyes locked, until Weiss walked between them, pushing them apart. They both looked down at the smaller woman, who was glaring at both of them. When they moved back slowly, she crossed her arms, waiting for any of them to say something. When none did, she took a deep breath and looked at Blake.

“I understand what you did and why you did it, but don’t you think that you could have warned us with a letter, with a message, with anything? Just tell us that you were taking some distances to protect us. And, anyway, must I remind you that we are huntresses in training? We have fought against sociopaths, terrorists, and monsters and we’ve come out safe. We’ve all have had things that happened to us during and after the Fall. We’ve lost things, we’ve gained other. But we can handle ourselves. If anything happens to you Blake, you can always count on us to help you.”

Blake looked away, tears in her eyes as Weiss’s words sank in, while Yang simply growled in anger as Blake looked away, her anger making her lose her temper more than usual. In response Weiss turned to her and slapped her, her eyes shooting daggers at the brawler.

“And YOU. Is it a proper way to treat a friend? Yes she has done things that have hurt you, yes you’re angry, but do you remember what you father said earlier today? We’re a team! Do you want this to drive us apart or do you want team RWBY to be back someday? Well, I know what I want. And you know what it is? I want to have my friends and my family back!” 

Weiss turned around, muttering ‘And I want to kiss you both as well’ as she walked to her briefcase, opening one of them to grab her sleepwear, before turning back towards the two other woman in the room, both looking at her, dumbstruck. Rolling her eyes, Weiss sighed as she crossed her arms once more, huffing. 

“What?”

“Hum… Weiss… what was that about kissing us?” asked Blake timidly, blushing, as she looked at the heiress with shock in her eyes, her mouth slightly agar.

Weiss' face got whiter than she ever was as she looked at Yang, wishing, hoping, that she didn’t understand what she had said. But Yang was looking at her with the same expression, mouth hanging open as she tried to process what she had just heard. 

“Oh, fuck.” was the only thing Weiss managed to say before she collapsed, fainting at the realization that she had indeed said her desires out loud, to two of the three women she felt that way for. Yang and Blake dove at the same time, grabbing the heiress before she hit the ground. Yang swiftly grabbed the heiress by her torso, while Blake grabbed her by the legs. Getting on their knees, they both held the smaller woman against their laps, Yang running a hand through the heiress's hair. Silently, both conscious girls took care of the unconscious one, however, never looking at each other. A few minutes passed before Yang sighed and turned her head slightly, one eye searching for the black-haired girl next to her.

"I'm sorry I yelled." she said softly, her voice barely a whisper. " It's just... it's just hard for me to accept what happened. You are smart Blake, smarter than me, so I know you can understand what I mean. After what happened, after everything, I wake up and you left me. I wake up and my best friend, my partner, my teammate, my... you, you were gone. After what I did for you. With some hindsight, I get it. It was kind and brave of you, but... but you never thought that, maybe, maybe, I should know? Maybe I thought that I didn't mean anything to you, that our friendship was pointless to you, or anything like that? We're a team Blake, but most importantly, we're your friends. You shouldn't keep us out. Because that's the most damaging thing you can do."

Slowly, very slowly, Blake moved over to Yang, making sure that her movements didn't bother Weiss. Once she was close enough, the cat faunus rested her head against the blond's shoulder, making her tense for a second. They stayed like that for a moment, Blake basking in the moment, her eyes closed, while Yang was slowly rubbing Weiss' hair, running her hand through the long white strands. 

"You know..." began Blake in a low voice, still snuggling against Yang, "Sun actually said something of that sort while he followed me around to Menagerie. I... I should have listened to him, but somehow it just made me so angry and I ended up asking him to go back to Haven, to leave me alone." 

"Why... why do you keep pushing us out Blake? We only want to help you."

"Because this is my fight. These are my problems, my creations. If I had done something sooner, you wouldn't be missing an arm, Adam wouldn't be planning to kill the leader of the White Fang, Haven wouldn't be in danger, if I had done something about Adam sooner, Beacon would maybe have never fallen."

Blake jumped when she felt a hand against her cheek, slowly removing a falling tear. Following the hand, the arm and the shoulders, Blake was greeted with the sad face of a pained heiress. Turning her head slowly, she found Yang looking at her with a pained expression as well. Looking down in shame, Blake rubbed her eyes, removing every proof of crying from her face. Yang sighed as she took Blake in one of her arms, doing the same with Weiss with the other. She slowly pulled them both to her, both tucked into her neck as she rubbed their back. For a few minutes, they stayed like this, in silence, until Yang sighed softly and looked down at the two women in her arms.

"Blake, not everything's your fault. The past is the past, it happened and now you have the chance to undo the wrong you feel like you did. You did things you are not proud of while you were young? Big deal, we all have. Now, it's the time to do things that you'll feel proud of." Nodding slowly, Blake let her arms slide around Yang and Weiss' waists, keeping both of them close as she struggled to keep her emotions in check. "As for you Weiss... I don't know what to say. But, I guess it explains a lot of some things you did. It's just... it's something big you dropped on us. Leave us some time to think about all of that okay? I don't think any of us were expecting you to fall in love with two of your teammates."

"Well... actually..." said Weiss, blushing as she hid her face more and more in the crook of Yang's neck.

"Ruby?" asked Yang giggling as Weiss simply nodded "Oh my god Weiss, have you no shame?" This made Weiss hit her and Blake giggle softly, easing all of the tension that they were all feeling right now.

After a few moment, Yang stood up, still holding the two other girls in her arms. Slowly she dropped them both on the bed and she joined them soon, after removing her right arm from its socket and leaving it on the side table. She pushed Blake against the wall and let Weiss be between them both. Snuggling in between the two bigger woman, Weiss smiled as she closed her eyes, sighing in content softly. Yang lied on the far right of the bed and looked down at the smaller woman resting between her and Blake. Smiling slightly, she turned her gaze to Blake who was looking at her, an eyebrow lifted in questioning. Yang simply shrugged as she let her hand roam through Weiss' hair, softly undoing some knots that she found in them. 

"This kind of situation happened so much with Ruby when she was younger, it just became second nature to me, I guess."

Blake nodded and smiled, one of her hand coming up to rest against Yang's own hand, making her stop every movement. Blake let her fingers glide over Yang's, before softly sliding between them, their hands becoming one, even though Weiss' long hair was stuck in the middle. Yang tensed up and took a deep breath in as Blake kept their gaze locked in one another. Blake gulped as she braced herself, closing her eyes for a second to clear her mind as she made sure that she was certain with what she was about to say. 

"Yang, I want you to know that I've done so many things in my life that I consider huge mistakes. I've left my family, I've joined the White Fang and I have hidden who I was, what I was, for so long. I ran away from my problem many times and I was afraid to what would happen if I confronted them. I have fled my demons for so long that I fear that they'll catch up to me and destroy me in a heartbeat. But... but Ruby, Weiss and, most important of all, you, Yang, have made me happier than I was in forever. Happy as I was before I learned of the atrocity that this world could create. Of the inequality, the hate, the pain that it could make. If I could, I'd go back in time and right every wrong I ever did. But that would mean I would probably never have the chance to meet any of you. Yang... I want you to understand this. All three of you, you are my friends, my partners. I love you all more than I thought I could love anybody. But you Yang, you are the one that -"

Before the raven haired woman could finish her sentence, a duo of spherical object crashed through the window and, a moment later they exploded in a flash of light and a wave of electricity, incapacitating the trio of girls. The only thing that Yang could hear before completely passing out was the same sound and explosions being heard four more times in the house.

* * *

 

"... about ... sir?" 

"Yes. ... know, ... all accomplices, ... are guilty by association."

"But ... to only bring back the package ... Not to ... other people prisoners!"

"Specialist Wan, you will obey ... do as I tell. Am I understood?"

"Now listen up you little..."

"ONYX! Shut your fucking mouth. Understood commander, we will."

"Good. Thank you, Specialist Harlequin. Now if only your leader had an ounce of your professionalism, that would be appreciated."

Slowly, Yang opened her eyes and looked around her. She was laying on the ground in the clearing and the sun was slowly peeking over the large trees of the forest. On her left, she could see the members of team CFVY, as well as Neon, while on her right were held her team, Flynt, her father, and Neo. She looked down and confirmed that she, as well as them, was stuck in a metal container highly reminiscent of a sarcophagus, with only their heads poking out of them. While looking around, she could see that there was a dozen or so of Atlesian soldiers, albeit with black instead of the usual white. She could also see a man in a slick uniform, far from being imposing. He had his hands behind him, standing at the ready as he observed two men on their knees, working on something that she couldn't see, her vision obstructed by a quarter of soldiers. 

One of them was dressed in a black opened up jacket, grey jeans and a grey jacket, a large elbow guard was on his left shoulder, while the right arm was left bare. On his back, sat a large claymore with a simple design, the cutting part being all white while the rest of the blade was black. The man was pacing from left to right, under the angry eye of one of the other three soldiers. Said soldier was dressed in the usual Atlesian uniform, albeit with green highlights instead of the light blue that Yang had seen Winter wear. Unlike Winter, however, the outer jacket was left open, revealing a large number of guns resting inside it and against the woman's body, in various holsters scattered over the uniform.

Behind her, two other men were looking at what was happening, a smile on both of their faces. The man on the left, dressed in brown pants, red sleeveless shirt, and a brown cowboy hat, with a small brown leather jacket. On his back sat a large sniper rifle and, even this far away, Yang was able to see where the joints on the weapon allowed it to transform into a bladed weapon. The final man looked rather puny in his blue jeans, black jacket with hood up, but, after looking more closely, Yang could see that both hands of the man were gleaming in the morning sun, showcasing their metal composition. 

Groaning in discomfort, Yang managed to grab the pacing man's attention. He quickly walked to her and took his time to ensure her well-being. Looking at her life signs, he sighed before smiling, part of his unease seemingly lifting from his shoulders. 

"Well, at least those grenades don't seem to have left you with permanent damage."

"Who... who are you?" asked Yang as she looked at the man straight in the eyes. 

"I'm Onyx Wan. But please, just call me Onyx. Bitchy McBitchface over there is Panta Harlequin, the guy with the sniper is Caput Mort. And, finally, this is Or Raz. We're team OCHR. And, if all goes well, you'll be free in a few minutes."

Tensing up, Yang gulped slowly as she looked around once more and saw that the soldiers seemed to be preparing the other pods with her friends or family (or Neo) for transport. Flexing her muscles to test the strength of her prison, Yang groaned as she was soon faced with the hard truth that she wasn't able to force her way out, not in her current situation. She looked around and saw that most of her friends were awake, either trying to force their way out or assessing the situation. Only Flynt and Blake were still out, Weiss was having a staring battle against the one Onyx had referred to as Harlequin, Coco was shouting profanities at the closest soldiers and Neo was struggling like a demon in her own pod. But her gaze was quickly drawn by her father, who was looking directly at her.

"So, what are you thinking about this?" she asked once Onyx had away to tend to other matters with the one, she guessed, who was probably the commander.

"I think that I've been in worse situations before. But I also think that we're against something Qrow warned me about. Apparently, he encountered them a few times before, but these are probably the Black Devils, or if you prefer, Atlas' Special paramilitary forces. I just wonder why they took us, prisoners."

"Well... They seem to be working on something over there and they were talking about being guilty by association and accomplices of something. So... Wait. Where's Penny?"

Quickly looking around, they realized that the android was indeed missing from the group of pods. As they looked around, however, the two men working next to the commander slowly stood up, revealing something Yang had never wished to see again. Penny's lifeless face. But worst of all was the lack of an arm. The arm in which Wess had shot the jammer. Shaking in anger, Yang's gaze was drawn to the commander who was looking at Penny with a cold stare, his hands still behind his back.

"What. Are you. Doing?" she asked coldly, making everybody else in the surrounding area look at her.

"Yang... don't do this..." warned her father as he saw her red eyes shining brighter than ever before.

The commander simply turned around and looked at her, still keeping his cold face as he met her angry eyes. "Simple, I'm having it disassembled for its transportation back to Atlas. It's easier to carry that way."

"Do not call her "it"! She's named Penny!" yelled Weiss as she felt Yang's, Taiyang's and Neo's aura flare to dangerous levels, as well as sensing everybody else in the clearing freeze at the rising tension in the clearing, some soldiers even grabbing their stun rifles just in case.

"Reassemble her." demanded Taiyang as he made his neck crack, looking at the commander straight in the eyes. Smiling, the commander walked up to Yang and Taiyang, still keeping his emotions in check.

"I will do no such thing. This android is the result of years and years of research by almost every department in Atlas' R&D division. This android costs millions of liens just to produce one time and is an invaluable asset to the Atlesian military. For this reason, we have been tasked to bring back the package back in Atlas as a mean to continue our research. And, all of you, are charged with theft of Atlesian military secrets and will all be judged accordingly."

Sighing, Taiyang, closed his eyes. He didn't want to do this, but seeing the situation and the way things were going, he didn't have any choice. HE had built this house when he was still a young adult, just after STRQ had graduated. All four of them had pitched into the design and construction of the house. At first, it was team STRQ's house. And then, it became his and Raven's home. When she left, it became His and Summer's home. And now, it was his house. Yang and Ruby had left for Beacon and, even after coming back from the Fall, even after having lost so much, Ruby had left once more and Yang would probably do the same once she felt ready for it. But even throughout all of those years, all these years spent in this house, with the people whom he loved the most, a house he had built more than twenty years ago, a place who had housed the most awesome team of huntsmen and huntresses that Beacon ever had, a building who had served as the home of a pair of bandits, they had swore to never fight on this ground, to keep the serenity that this house brought them. Slowly, he opened his eyes and looked around, taking in every little detail he could muster. On his left, he could see five soldiers and two knights, while on his right stood three more soldiers. But what he was the most concerned about was the four specialists standing in front of him, with two more soldiers and what he assumed was the commanding officer. Looking back at his daughter, Taiyang could see that she was barely restraining her anger, waves of energy running through her hair. He knew he had to do something soon, before the situation got a lot worse and some of the kids got hurt. Or worse.

"Alright, alright, Yang, calm down." he said, his eyes still locked on the four members, gagging them based on the way they acted, as well as their equipment. "No need to get angry, we don't want you to hurt any of them."

"What did you say?" asked the commander, turning around with a dangerous smirk. "She could do no such thing. She won't be able to break free of this prison, it has been designed to be able to withstand the power of a paladin punch. She's at my mercy. And, matter of fact... I can do whatever I want to." The man turned around and slapped Yang with all of his might, before laughing and doing it again and again. After a few more slaps, he turned around once more and laughed as he looked at Taiyang straight in the eyes. "Still believe you can do anything to stop me? Or do I have to beat you up as well?"

"Me?" answered Taiyang with a little smile as he held the commander's gaze "I won't do anything to you. Her, however... Yang, I was thinking about going with Soaring Dragons for the opening move"

Turning around the commander was greeted with a pair of red eyes screaming death at him. He began to walk backward, away from the waves of energy pulsating from the woman in front of him. Only a second later, the pod was sent flying all around the clearing when one energy wave bigger than all of the other was made, creating fire all around the young woman. With a grin, she stood up and dashed towards the commander. Her fist collided with a metal hand, however, as Or was quick enough to block the hit.

"Well, looks like it's time to have some action." said Taiyang, before his pod burst open as well, purple energy emanating from his clothes. A bit further down the row of pods Coco punched her way through her own prison, before beginning to tear it apart. Quickly all the Atlesian soldiers grabbed their weapons and began to point it at their prisoners. However, they weren't prepared for the group of three white Beowulf to suddenly appear near Neo's, Blake's and Weiss' pods and begin to open them forcefully. Taiyang grinned before dashing to the man fighting against Yang, his daughter being clearly being outmatched by the two metal arms that could change form between large blades, shields, maces, claws, and whips. Just before Taiyang's fist collided with Or's face, it suddenly burst into flames, making the specialist scream in pain and surprise. Never letting the four specialists out of his sight, Taiyang got in a battle stance like Yang had never seen him use. It was similar to a boxing stance, one he had taught her to use, so many years ago. But the main difference was that both of his hands were not clenched in fists. Both his palms were held open, the right one pointing towards the sky, the left one pointing towards his left arm.

"Yang!" he screamed as all four of the specialists began to run towards him. "Go help your friends, defeat the soldiers and go take your weapons. I'll take care of those four."

"But dad..."

"No buts! Do as I say! I promise, everything's going to be okay."

Nodding, Yang began to run towards her friends, as Taiyang began to dodge the shots coming from the sniper. Even in this time of danger, in a moment where his family, his daughter, his house, his everything, were in danger, Taiyang was smiling. He had not felt this good in a long time. After months of moping, after months of being bed ridden, not wanting to come out of her room, without any light in her eyes, Yang was finally moving forward again. White energy and light began to emanate from Taiyang's boot, before he jumped in the air, kicking in a circular motion as a gust of wind erupted from his foot, knocking off the Onyx and Or from their feet. When they landed, Taiyang smirked as he took his stance once more, this time however, he didn't leave them time to get on the offensive as he began to shoot fire from his hands, red energy and light coming out from his sleeves. The four specialists began to scramble around, evading the fire as best as they could while Taiyang seemed like he was dancing, following each of the specialists as they got closer to him or the other kids.

"What the fuck is this bullshit?" Screamed Onyx as he barely evaded a fire ball to the face, hiding behind his large sword to block the next one.

"Dust bending!" Screamed Panta, as she hid behind a nearby tree to avoid being hit by a wave of fire. "He's using dust and injecting his aura in it to control it in a small way!"

All of a sudden the sound of fire died down and all of the specialists moved carefully towards Taiyang, now having closed his eyes and adopting a new fighting pose. Mort grabbed his sniper rifle and took aim, pointing it directly at the huntsman's head. His breathing stopped and a fraction of a second later he took the shot. However, the bullet stopped in mid-air, purple energy pulsating around Taiyang and the round.

"So... You do realize that I've been training for longer than any of you have even been alive right? You're good, all of you specialists are. But let me show you, what a real Huntsman can do."

Grinning as brown light began to shine around his boots, Taiyang hit the ground with his right foot as strongly as he could, before raising his arm, creating a wall of stone in a straight line, raised by the gravity dust infused in his clothes. Smiling he quickly did the same thing on the left, an eyebrow raised towards the four specialists in front of him.

"This," began Onyx with a sigh, while steadying his grip on his sword, his teammates doing the same with their weapons. "is going to suck... a lot"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I'm not really skilled at writing down action sequences and fights, but... I tried.  
> And next chapter will be more of that. I'm really trying to improve where my skills are lacking so... Here we go with a chapter with fighting. I have been wanting to write this for a few months now, and I can't wait to write down the little ideas I have for every character. It should come up before the end of August before I begin University in the beginning of September
> 
> With that, I only have to say this : The name I chose for the Atlas special forces is the based on the Americo-canadian spec-ops of WW2, the Devil's Brigade (one of their other names being the Black Devils). It's something that isn't really known that much about WW2 and that's a shame because they have an interesting history behind them and what they did. Also, if any of you can guess what my inspirations were for team OCHR... Good job, because what I wrote down was basically nothing compared to what I had in mind but I don't know how to describe it properly so... Maybe you'll get t in the next chapter when we get more information about them.
> 
> With that said... Hope you liked it!  
> If you have any advice for my writing, any review about the story or you want to say anything, just hit me up! Really, knowing that some people like what I do just makes my day!


	11. ... To defeat, those guys!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happens if you bring the fight to a house of huntsmen and future huntsmen, filled with future huntsmen?
> 
> Well they fight back obviously

Neo tensed up when she saw the ethereal beowolf in front of her, his white fur and blue eyes unsettling her more than it should have been. How many of those creatures had she killed? Hundreds? Thousands? She had lost count long ago when she was still training, when she was still perfecting her skills. All those years ago, she was training to learn how not to feel fear ever again. If she could look at those creatures of darkness straight in their red eyes and still maim them to pieces, she could vanquish all of her fears. But now, as the creature in front of her got closer and closer, she began to wonder if she could somehow manage to disappear completely before that creature finally got to her. She flinched when the creature grabbed her prison pod, thinking that her time had come to pay for all the things she had done, even if she regretted none of those. But, when she felt no pain but felt like her prison was being torn apart, she opened her eyes and marvelled at the sight in front of her. The white beowolf was breaking her away from her prison and, after a few seconds, she was free to get away from the pod, jumping between the grimm's legs. She got back up behind it, in a combat position, ready to defend herself and even kill the beast. But it didn't attack her, instead, it simply disappeared in a whirlwind of snowflakes. 

Surprised, Neo looked around only to see Weiss panting as she rested against another ghostly grimm, softly petting it with a smile before it disappeared as well. This little moment of peace didn't last long, however, as the atlesian soldiers began to charge at them, the beowolves having disappeared. Two of them had rifles and began to shoot their incapacitating bolts, the high concentration of lightning dust in these rounds was capable of wonders when used against human or animal opponents, knocking them out in one or two shots. However, four other soldiers were charging them with a sword, two axes and a pike, all showing the same electric blue coming from the blades, showing that they were all imbued with lightning dust, probably to stun while inflicting some minor damage to incapacitate their opponents. Grinning, Neo looked at the soldier with the pike, thinking about her strategy as she reckoned that he would be the easiest to take out without a weapon if she could only get into his guard. A few seconds later and she was running towards the atlesian soldiers who quickly got in a combat position, surprised by the head on assault that she was doing. One of the axe soldiers tried to hit her but as soon as his blade connected with her, she ...

 

* * *

Shattered the pod with her semblance infused strength, Coco quickly freed herself from it, her rage only flaring up as she dodged two shots coming from the atlesian troopers, the high voltage of the ammunition making her hair stand to attention. She moved behind Fox's prison and quickly tore it apart from the back, allowing her team's ninja to extract himself from it. Without a word between them, Coco simply nodding to Fox, he dashed towards the enemy, this group having decided to create a firing squad rather than splitting its forces in a close combat team and range team. But Fox didn't care. He dodged easily all the shots before cocking his arm back and unleashing his semblance with all his strength, a large pressure wave coming out of his fist like a cannonball. The seven Atlesian troopers were thrown to the ground, slightly dazed by the attack, but not enough to put them out of the fight. That wasn't the intention, however, as it bought enough time for Coco to free Velvet and Neon. Velvet quickly retreated behind Yatsuhashi's pod, fiddling with the lock while Coco grabbed Neon by the shoulders, looking at her straight in the eyes.

"You, hurry up and go in the house. Find Velvet's box and camera. That's what matters right now. If we get that, we may have a chance. But as we are, even if we manage to hold them back right now, we can't outlast their stun guns and weapons!" 

The diva groaned in displeasure as she was sent to the ground, a shot coming from the atlesian soldiers hitting her square behind the head, her body spasming as she was hit with, in her opinion, a far too large amount of electricity.

"Oh, now you've..."

* * *

"... Done it Weiss, that was awesome!" smiled Yang as she grabbed the panting heiress by the shoulders to hide her behind her pod, away from the two sharpshooters hanging back from the fighting between Neo, Blake and the four soldiers, the two girls doing their best to avoid being hit, trying to charge the ranged enemy, but each time they got too close one of the four other opponents was there to intercept them and make them retreat again, if only to avoid being hit by a supercharged electric axe. Weiss took a deep breath and slowly stood up, her hand resting against Yang's shoulder. 

"I will draw their attention. Circle back around them and try to take out the two with their rifles. Once they're down, the others won't have cover from an all-out assault."

Raising an eyebrow, Yang nodded after a fraction of a second, quickly running away from the fighting, trying her best to avoid being spotted by the two sharpshooters. She ducked and weaved behind every obstacle she could, before disappearing around the house, running at full speed towards the tree line to get behind her enemies. Meanwhile, Weiss slowly stood up, walking towards the fighting, taking deep breaths and calming her nerves. She only had one chance at this and, if she didn't manage... No, she WILL manage, no matter the cost. A dozen meters away from the brawl she stopped and got to her knees, a hand on the ground as she closed her eyes. She felt the glyph slowly forming and she smiled at her own success. She visualized what she wanted to summon. He had helped her once, he would do it again, after all, who better to protect damsels in distress, than a knight?

She opened her eyes when the glyph fully formed and she waited, hoping for him to come out of it, ready to fight her enemies. But, sadly, nothing like that occurred. In front of her stood his sword, embedded in the floor, standing strong as it rose from the ground. She stomped her feet and was about to scream her despair when she saw an arm coming from behind her, fully covered by a heavy armor, grab the sword and pull it from the ground. Slowly she turned around and she smiled once she finally saw him. He wasn't as tall as he had once been, but he stood at a good 9 feet none the less, towering over everybody else in the clearing. He slowly got to one knee in front of her and hung his head low. Weiss resisted the urge to laugh in happiness, having finally done what she wanted to do for the last two years of her life. She slowly pressed her hand on his helm and, with a commanding tone, said one word.

"Rise"

It did as instructed, looking down at her and followed his gaze when she turned around to the fighting. His hold on his sword strengthen and he jumped towards the fray the instant she ordered him. She threw a few glyphs on his path, making him go faster, as he zeroed in on his targets. Finally, he jumped and came crashing down onto the group fighting. The four atlesian soldiers that were in the fray froze as they looked up, overwhelmed by the sheer size of their opponent.

One of them dropped his weapon as his mouth hung open, barely mumbling "Holy. Fucking..."

* * *

"Shit!" groaned Neon as she barely avoided a stray shot, finally managing to get inside the house. She took a deep breath as she closed the door behind her and began to quickly search for a brown box. She remembered Velvet using it during the Fall, she remembered the damage that it had been able to do to the paladins, those tanks on legs that were giving so much trouble. And, almost all alone, she had managed to take out two of them. While it indeed had its shortcomings, such a weapon would be an invaluable asset to the fight they were currently in. She began her search in the living room but quickly realized that it wasn't doing her any good, the box nowhere to be found. So, she dashed around, opening doors and closing others, trying desperately to find it. She found the camera in the bathroom, but it didn't help her in what she was doing. She was still missing the box and...

Neon blushed as she saw the picture displayed on the camera's screen, quickly turning it off. Well, she wasn't expecting this at all when she went on this mission... Still, she smiled softly as she began to dash around the house once again, until she found the box in the kitchen, on the counter. She grabbed it and groaned in surprise when she saw just how heavy it was. Damn some people having ridiculous weapons that weight a ton and a half. Why couldn't everybody have simple weapons like her? Still, she had a job to do and a little more weight would not prevent her from finishing it. She dashed outside and gasped as she saw what was happening. Coco and Yatsuhashi were out cold, little arcs of lightning still coming out of their bodies at random intervals. Fox was fighting against one of the atlesian soldiers at close combat while Velvet was doing her best to avoid shots coming from two of the soldiers and Flynt was hiding behind one pod, preventing two more of the soldiers to hit him with their weapons. The only solace that Neon found from the situation was that one of the soldiers seemed to be out of the count, laying on the ground and groaning in pain. Neon dashed to Velvet, dropped her weapon next to her and tackled one of the soldiers to the ground. 

Velvet jumped in surprised before grabbing her box with a smile. "Kaleidoscope! You're okay!" she gasped, putting it on her back with a smile as she moved away from the fighting, her weapon humming softly as if it was answering to her, her aura fueling the weapon back to life. She looked and smiled when she saw the knight in action but her mood grew sombre when she spotted Blake knocked out on the ground. She jumped on the rooftop and opened her box, slowly pulling out the hard-light image generator from its protective casing. She took a deep breath before pressing a button on her belt, the generator creating a blue hue around itself as projection began to appear all around her.

"Alright, everybody! Get ready!" she screamed, gaining the attention from everybody in the clearing. "You have 10 seconds to do as much of damage as possible!" 

As she pressed on a few other buttons, she saw the weapons appear near of their respective owners, each and every one of them grabbing their weapons with a smile, while Velvet created Coco's weapon for herself, the revving of the machine gun making even the most courageous of men run away. All of a sudden, hell broke loose around the house, the future huntsmen and huntresses quickly making up for lost ground against the two atlesian squads. 

"That one's for you Coco, Portfolio is... "

* * *

 

"... going well, don't you think?" said Taiyang as he smiled to the four huntsmen standing in front of him. 

"Would you shut up for once?" yelled Panta, shooting at the senior huntsman, most of her shots missing as he dashed around the clearing, making her angrier by the second. They had underestimated the man in the beginning, allowing him much more breathing room than they should have and they were now trying to make up for that mistake, but it was far from going smoothly. As it turned out, when you were able to wield dust with such a level of control, it was pretty easy to do whatever you wished. How many times did he make an ice shield or used gravity or wind dust to boost away from a bullet? Well, according to Mort, “Way too fucking many to be fair, for fuck sakes”. And Panta had to agree, it absolutely was bullshit, she had already spent too many pistols and other guns, almost half of those she had on her, trying to take down the huntsman. 

But here they were, four of the best Atlas had to offer, having difficulty to take out only one huntsman. Where had they gone wrong in the last few minutes? When had they become so bad? They were being schooled by such an old man? No, she wouldn’t let it stand. 

“Onyx, I recommend you take cover, because it’s time to Blossom!” she yelled, taking out two guns from under her coat. Her body and clothes, except her boots and hands, quickly took a ghostly appearance. The other members of her team ran for cover, hiding behind trees or, in Onyx case, behind his blade, and she began to spin on herself, both pistols emptying their clips as fast as Panta was able to do so. When she emptied one of them, she quickly grabbed another gun and continued what she was doing, spinning faster and faster on herself as she prevented Taiyang from moving away for cover, the maelstrom of bullets forcing him to either create an ice or rock shield, or to take bullets directly, causing his aura to drop even more quickly. For a second, when she stopped pulling out pistols, he smiled, having survived her bullet storm, he would be able to gain the upper hand once more. His smiled faltered quickly, however, when he saw her take out two automatic shotguns and pointed both of them at him. He began his mad dash once more, this time a purple aura surrounding him, making most of the bullets bounce away from him, a few of them managing to get through his gravity dust shield. After a few moments more, he tripped, exhaustion finally catching up to him, forcing him to put a knee down. 

It was at that moment that the three other specialists finally sprung back to action, with Mort staying away, his sniper aimed directly at Taiyang’s mid-section, while Or and Onyx quickly came to stand next to Taiyang, blade at the ready and arms turned into claws, both making it clear that they were not afraid to incapacitate the older huntsmen if he did something wrong. Meanwhile, Panta was quickly reloading a pistol, standing back slightly. 

“You know”, said Onyx, a smirk on his lips as he stared down Taiyang, “you should have given up when you had the chance, you wouldn’t have been beaten up that badly. You’re out of aura, I recommend that you surrender”

Taiyang looked at him for a few seconds, before laughing, clutching his side as he did so. “Wow, you guys are almost the carbon copy of my old team…” He looked at Mort and smiled, pointing at him with his finger “The sniper that can fight close and far. I don’t know how much of a slave driver you are towards your teammates about team attacks however. ‘S’” He pointed at Or, grinning as he gave him a thumbs up. “The brawler who has a lot of tricks up his sleeve. ‘T’” Taiyang turned to Onyx and sighed, rolling his eyes. “The swordsman using dust infused blades for their sword. At least you’re less bitchy than she was. ‘R’” he finally turned to Panta and grinned as he pointed at her, a glint in his eyes. “And finally, Q. The arrogant asshole.”

“What the fuck did you just say?” she yelled, pointing at him with her pistol. 

It was all he needed to get his plan in motion. He grabbed her wrist, pulled her towards him and punched her throat with all his might, stunning her long enough to get her pistol from her hands. He stood close to her, preventing either Or and Onyx to attack him with their weapons. He peppered them with the stolen pistol, forcing them back. Once it was emptied, he threw it at Onyx and turned around, ducking behind Panta to dodge a bullet from Mort. Quickly, he ran towards the sniper, throwing Panta on him to block any possible shots and, as he got close, ducked under the morphed weapon now turned to a blade. He zipped around the sniper, before using fire dust to burn the man’s face off with one powerful punch. Mort was sent flying, crashing through a tree, groaning in pain as he fell face down on the ground, clutching his face. Taiyang ducked down as Onyx’s blade was thrown his way, blade grazing him, quickly shooting his hand towards the handle to try and grab the weapon for himself, only to dash away when Onyx appeared from thin air, using some kind of teleportation semblance to quickly get to his blade Taiyang assumed. Using earth dust to create a makeshift set of arm guards, Taiyang blocked the blade, flames erupting from the contact point between the blade and arms, and once more moved away from his opponent, only to be blocked by Or’s attack as well. Stuck between the two fighters, Taiyang kept his breathing calm, one arm on each side of his body, prepared to block attacks coming from either side if need be. 

“You know… You made a mistake earlier when you said I was almost out of aura.” Said Taiyang softly, as flames slowly began to grow around them, the remnants of Onyx’s attack becoming bigger and hotter as they slowly began to move towards the three of them, the two specialists not realizing the flames, eyes focused on the smiling huntsman. “Because, seriously, you have no way of knowing how much aura I had left. I do. And you made me realized something. I have way more aura than I thought. It’s the first time in a while that I’ve fought against so much firepower aimed directly at me. And it seems that Dust bending is taking less aura than it used to. Guess I’m just that good. But you guys? You guys are in big trouble. You have… I’d say one minute at most before you surrender.”

Onyx confident expression wavered slightly, but his grip on his sword strengthened, a soft mechanic whir making itself heard, the blade dividing in two at the mid-point. From the top half, a new hilt came out, allowing the swordsman to attack the older huntsman in a flurry of metal. Using earth dust to create arm guards once more, Taiyang closed the distance between the two of them, preventing his assailant to make large moves with his blades, rendering them almost useless. 

“Thirty seconds,” said Taiyang, taunting the duo of hunters who began to move away from him as flames began to engulf more and more of the clearing, heat radiating from the huntsmen. He grinned and dashed at them, forcing the two specialists to get in defensive positions, Or’s arms shifting to become two large plates of metal, blocking the upcoming fist with ease. The two specialists began to smile slowly, having finally brought the huntsmen to a stop. They were quick to lose it however when the flames finally engulphed the huntsmen, a giant dragon made of flame towering over them in an instant. They moved back slowly, weapons still were drawn despite their chances of winning having been reduced to ash. Imbuing one of his blades with aura, Onyx slammed it on the dragon, using ice dust to try to extinguish the flames. The ice, however, didn’t last long, the fire almost immediately melting the ice. Backing up quickly to avoid a swipe from one of the paws, Onyx brought back his weapon in its great sword form, gripping it tightly.

“Come on Or, we can do it. Let’s show him what we’re made of. We shall win because we can’t…”

* * *

“Surrendered huh?” asked Yang, arms crossed as she looked at the four specialists, two knocked out while the last two seemed to have quite a few burns on their body and clothing. She grinned at them and blew a raspberry at Onyx, taunting him. “So, how does it feel, to lose to a bunch of teens and an old guy?”

“Yang.” Sighed Taiyang, putting his scroll back in his pocket, his call done. “Please, don’t antagonize them. They were following orders. Same as you did back in Beacon. If what they said is true, that means that they saw themselves as in the right to do so. Even if you despise them to have done so. I called Signal, they’re sending a few police officers with a two teacher to come and pick everybody up. They’ll keep them locked up while we sort things out with Ironwood.”

Yand pouted before nodding slowly. She didn’t agree with her dad entirely, but he was right on a few things, especially about the following orders part. The White Fang members that were part of the Breach and the Fall did believe in what they were doing. They believed in the orders they were given and thus did what they thought was right.

She turned around and walked away, leaving the four specialists to the care of her father, only to smile when she saw Neon taunting the captured atlesian soldiers, with everybody else idly chatting around their captured enemies. Somehow, some things never changed. Not that Yang minded it. In fact, somethings were better the way they should be. But, as she looked at her favourite monochrome pair talking and giggling, maybe some things could change for the best.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... At first, I was going to post this at the end of august. But then my beta reader couldn't do it for personal reasons. So I asked another good friend of mine to beta read it, but... Well she never came back to me and also had personal problems so I left her alone. AND THEN, I started university. And boy did it hurt. I have... So many things to do, like holy fuck, it's crazy. 
> 
> I have 4-5 things to hand over in a week... AND GUESS WHAT I'M DOING? Everything but that! I'm a responsible adult! 
> 
> But alas.  
> If you have any advice for my writing, any review about the story or you want to say anything, just hit me up! Really, knowing that some people like what I do just makes my day!


End file.
